Wildflower
by randommama
Summary: Edward Cullen was just moving through life stagnant and generally uninspired.This all changes when he literally runs into the unassuming beauty,Bella Swan,one night in an alleyway.She teaches him about love.Written for the Twilight Big Bang Challenge.
1. Part 1

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:** This is the extended O/S story I had written for the **Twilight****Big****Bang****Challenge**. I finally got the okay to post it under my own profile. Thank you to those that possibly read on their site on Livejournal and especially if you left me a nice comment on it, for which I got a few.

For those that didn't and this is all new to you, I hope you readers enjoy it. I put a lot of heart and soul into this. It had been a long-standing nearly five months of effort to get this story where it's at.

The Twilight Big Bang Challenge was a truly amazing challenge and I thank the organizers of it for hosting something this monumental. I had a great time working my butt off to fulfill the challenge and I think they helped me come up with a pretty damn good story.

I have to give much love out to my wonderful fic best friend, my beta Cheermom, who diligently edited this monster of a story (it's truly the biggest assignment I had given her yet) and without me having given her a lot of time to do so either. She accomplished the task as always and did an amazing job as always. I love her and couldn't imagine writing my stories without her by my side. I'll always be grateful for having her being my special beta.

**Summary:** Here's the complete summary of the story.

Edward Cullen was just moving through life stagnant and generally uninspired. He floated from girlfriend to girlfriend never really having any true feelings for them and used them mainly as a means for sexual gratification and he'd never been in love. This all changes when he literally runs into the unassuming beauty, Bella Swan, one night in an alleyway. He feels a strong connection with her like he'd never felt before. She needs his help in more ways than one, and he's inspired to help her in whatever way he can, pushing aside his own selfishness for once. In turn, she teaches him about her spirit and all the wonders of falling in love.

Because this is like a 36,000+ word doc, I don't want to overwhelm you readers in one sitting, so I'm going to roll this out little by little. Besides, I don't want to break FF either.

This will be marked Complete when the final pages of it are posted, but by no means is this story done. If you're liking it, keep the story on alert, because there's still a lot story here to tell and I'm gonna be adding several outtakes to this, just to fill in the blanks and a futuretake very much in the style of an epi—m'kay.

Banner made by the talented andralee for the challenge. View it on my profile. Thanks to her for a beautiful banner for my story.

**I LOVE REVIEWS**

**SO IF YOU'RE LOVING THIS STORY THUS FAR**

**LEAVE ME SOME LOVE AS WELL**

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><p><strong>~*Wildflower*~<strong>

**Part 1**

"Shit!" I cursed to myself as I sat idle in my car, stuck in the traffic jam from hell. I glanced at the dash clock, and fuck if I wasn't running extremely late again. Chelsea, my current girlfriend, wasn't going to be pleased about that. She had expected me to meet her at the "trendiest restaurant in all of Denver" a while ago.

Right on cue, my phone rang, and it was in fact Chelsea, no doubt calling now to berate me for keeping her and her friends waiting. I figured that I might as well answer and get the tongue-lashing over with, rather than have her be more pissed at me for ignoring her call.

I held the phone away from my ear as she screeched her dissatisfaction with my tardiness. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't necessarily my fault that I wasn't on time; however, no amount of explanation would placate her, and the conversation turned into me just giving a bunch of "hmmms" and "yeahs" as she lectured me for keeping her waiting like always.

I was supposed to get my butt to the restaurant as fast as I could, but as it stood, I was still at least thirty minutes away, and that was if the traffic would ever get moving. I was snagged in utter gridlock on the interstate and I really wasn't about to chance a ticket just to get to Chelsea. There had to be some sort of accident or something that screwed up the highway because traffic just wasn't moving. I turned my radio to the news in hopes of getting confirmation of this-well, there was no accident, but fucking highway construction instead.

What the fuck was wrong with the state of Colorado? They choose to do road construction in the middle of freaking rush hour! What the hell were they thinking? No wonder commuters were typically angry people, cause we get fucked over like this regularly. I mean, come on, that section of interstate had been under construction for fucking forever. How long could it really take to repair and repave the road? Damn contractors were just trying to siphon more money out of us taxpayers.

As I finally inched along, I began to debate on whether to just go ahead and cancel on Chelsea and head for home instead. The exit to my apartment was before downtown. I couldn't understand why in the hell Chelsea expected me to meet her in the heart of downtown Denver right at 6 o'clock, when she knew perfectly well that was just setting me up for disaster. With a late afternoon meeting in Colorado Springs, I was more than an hour away at best. She must've known that there was no guarantee that my meeting would've ended on time, which it didn't, and traffic during rush hour was always horrendous-the trek through Castle Rock particularly tasking with the lowered speed limit. Even with perfect traffic conditions, I still wasn't going to be there on time. Chelsea had a brain; it was simple math. Not to mention that I would still have to find parking in downtown and that could take a good chunk of time in itself. Maybe it served her right that I was so fucking late. She had the audacity to be upset with me.

Actually, it would serve Chelsea right if I canceled on her. It had been a long day already, work beginning and ending with tedious meetings with stuffy, crabby, old men in suits, and driving with this traffic was making me weary. All I really wanted to do was to take another long, hot shower, crawl into bed, turn on the TV and vegetate in front of it until I fell asleep, and make it an early night. I could really use the extra sleep. Most of all, I really wasn't in the mood to socialize with Chelsea's fucking shallow, piss-ass, holier than thou friends. Every single one of them, for some odd reason, got on my nerves.

Yeah, they were certainly no friends of mine. We all tolerated one another just because of Chelsea; or rather, it was more like I tolerated them because of her. Oh God! I hadn't even bothered to ask who was there tonight. Shit! I'm definitely walking out if I see streetwalker-in-training Lauren or I-don't-care-if-you're-straight-and-dating-my-friend Eric. Those two always made inappropriate passes at me, and they are fucking persistent and annoying as hell, despite my repeated rebuff of their advances. They never learned to take a hint, and Chelsea was fucking clueless to their shenanigans. She actually believes that they're just playing with me. Well, I certainly didn't have the energy tonight to be dealing with their freaking sorry asses. I mean, seriously, I am their friend's boyfriend, and they think that their actions aren't out of line.

Come to think of it, I wasn't in the mood to deal with Chelsea either tonight. From experience, I knew that Chelsea wasn't exactly the easiest girl to be around when she got upset like this. She really was bitchy and could hold a grudge like no other when she was made angry, which, in my case, would be pretty fucking often. Damn, if the littlest things wouldn't set her off.

She was good at fooling her friends, but she was always transparent to me. She was obviously already in a foul mood, and I doubted that I'd get anything but the cold shoulder from her once I arrived, although her friends would never know the difference. Of course, she'd still be civil enough for appearances sake. She'll flash that fake smile of hers and pretend to not be seething; however, she'd find little ways to let me know constantly that I had fucked up and that she was thoroughly pissed at me, but she would wait until we were alone to fully unleash her wrath. I was going to be expected to just grin and bear it. It would grate on my nerves all night, and I most definitely did not want to be taking Chelsea home. I was pretty certain I wasn't going to be getting anything in the way of sex, so why should I even bother.

After stewing it over for a bit, I decided against standing her up, as I bypassed the turn off for home. For sure, canceling on her would anger Chelsea more. I figured I could handle one night without sex with her, and possibly no sex over the weekend. However, if I stood her up now, then it would probably mean no sex for a while-my cock would fucking protest.

As it was, I only kept Chelsea around as my girlfriend because she was a hellcat in bed. Other than that, I probably would've given her the boot long ago. The girl, honestly, did nothing else for me and was only a means for my sexual gratification.

Didn't mean I wasn't open to any side action every now and then, which Chelsea didn't need to know about. Although, I do suspect that she might have some inkling, but she still keeps me around anyways. However, as of late, with my work schedule being what it was, side action was scarce.

I could just break up with Chelsea and save myself from any more headaches. I was certain I could move on to another quickly and have a new girl in my bed quite possibly before the weekend was over. But then again, at the moment, I was way too busy and too lazy to even go in search of a new girlfriend. I did still have work to do this weekend.

I'd been working pretty hard these days at my job. Working for the man, the man being my controlling father, had me exhausted most days, so I don't think I'd have the energy to be whacking off as much as I'd need to if Chelsea left my bed for an extended period of time and I didn't have a suitable replacement for her. That wouldn't bode well at all for my cock.

My little black book was chock full of willing candidates to keep my cock nice and warm, but many of them were also in relationships now too, and I was in no mood to hassle with spurned boyfriends, fiancés', or worse yet, husbands. Just my luck, my regular go-to friend with benefits, who was useful just for situations like this, Tanya, was out of town until next weekend.

Uh, yeah, no matter how exhausted I was, I was never too tired for sex, and yes, admittedly, I am a prick. I'd have to be to openly admit to cheating on my girlfriend, and Chelsea hasn't been the first I've cheated on, and also admitting to having a regular FWB at that. I make no excuses for my womanizing ways, but, overall, I think despite that I still made a pretty good boyfriend. It wasn't like I actually dated the other women in my life that weren't my girlfriend-I just slept with them. I have an overactive libido that needed taking care of constantly, and well, sometimes my girlfriends weren't always available.

Now, I'm not a total sex addict, although I have been accused of being one. It's not like I needed and craved sex all the time. There are periods of drought in my life. Sex wasn't even a daily occurrence sometimes. So, I can do without sex. I just didn't want to nor felt that I had to when opportunity arises. Mostly, I enjoyed the company of women; especially when they were pinned beneath me, screaming my name in ecstasy. Hey, I'm a guy, and that shit was like a high to me. It was an ego boost that I could bring a woman to her knees with pleasure and it was better than any high I could get from any drug.

Anyways, Chelsea was good in bed and she kept me plenty satisfied, so I didn't have to look outside of our relationship very often for some tender loving cock care. Like I said before, a day or two without being inside her wet heat would be fine with me. However, an extended period of withholding sex, which would be a more than likely punishment that she'd inflict on me if I bailed on her, would be torturous, and options to keep my cock from being angry with me were limited to none. So, yeah, it would be better for me to show up, act like I'm social for a bit, then make up the excuse that I was exhausted, which wasn't necessarily untrue, and then leave. That would appease Chelsea somewhat, then I would just have to make it up to her. Her temper would always cool with some materialistic gifts. I could probably ask my assistant to buy her something nice in the way of jewelry, but a piece that's not too expensive, and I'll be sure to have flowers delivered to her home this weekend, as well as have flowers on her desk first thing Monday morning and a spa day booked, so that she could show off to her co-workers and friends. All that should do the trick and I'll have her back, rolling in the sack with me, in no time.

Traffic finally began to move at a more acceptable pace, and I eventually reached downtown. I was closer to the restaurant where I was supposed to be meeting Chelsea over an hour ago. I sent her a text stating I was in the vicinity and was just going to look for parking. Since I was in the heart of downtown, there was, of course, no parking anywhere near the restaurant and all the lots surrounding the area were full. I circled around a few times, but without having any luck of finding a nearby space, I gave up and decided to go ahead and pay to park at a garage several blocks over. Jesus, there went fifteen bucks from my wallet.

Chelsea texted me back, before I was even able to leave the car, telling me to hurry my ass up; they had already started without me. The woman even had the gall to tell me that I wasn't going to be getting any in the way of sex tonight. Well, shit, I already knew that. Chelsea was nothing but predictable. It still pissed me off, though, and so I suddenly didn't feel the need to get my ass there in a timelier fashion.

I began to walk my way back towards the direction of the restaurant where Chelsea and her friends were waiting for me. It was a good thing that they weren't stupid enough to keep waiting on me, and had started in on their dinner and drinks, because, frankly, I wouldn't have waited if the situation was reversed. If it was Chelsea that was overdue to meet me and I decided to do the PC thing and wait to start on account of her late ass, then my guests and I would be starving motherfuckers. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even her friends, despite my dislike of them. It was so wrong for me, for anyone, to be this late to dinner.

It was a nice night and I decided I was in the mood for some exploring, so I took a rather roundabout route towards the restaurant. I also wanted the extra time to rethink this whole Chelsea-as-my-girlfriend business. She was really starting to turn me off more and more. Despite the great sex, I was mulling over whether it was time to cut her loose. Well, breaking up with her tonight, would clear me of any obligation to jewelry and flowers. Tanya would be back next weekend, and that wouldn't be too long of a dry spell. I've gone longer, not recently, but I'd survived it. I would probably break Chelsea's heart, but she wouldn't be the first broken heart I'd been responsible for. Gah! Why didn't I just go home in the first place?

I cut through an alley and continued to casually stroll. The restaurant was just around the corner. I kept my eyes trained on the ground, my hands in my pockets, as I ambled along deep in thought. It was a familiar posture of mine when I was walking and thinking.

Because I wasn't paying any attention to my surroundings, I really didn't see that a girl was approaching me fast, running at full speed, until she actually ran into me. I suppose in her haste, she hadn't noticed me either. The force of our collision nearly knocked both of us over. I acted quickly enough, however, and wrapped my arms around her to steady us both, keeping us upright instead of tumbling in a heap on the ground, which I honestly wouldn't have minded after seeing this girl clearly. Once I had touched her, I instantly felt a spark of connection that I hadn't ever felt with any other girl before. It rocked me to my very core.

Once I got my bearings, I was able to take a closer look at this girl who crashed into me. She was trembling, maybe out of fear, or it could've been shock, I didn't really know. I continued holding her close just to keep her firmly rooted. She looked like that she was about ready to pass out on me and we couldn't have that. I gave her a quick once over to make sure she didn't suffer any visible ill effects from our collision. She wasn't bleeding anywhere and there seemed to be no bruises that I could see.

Okay, so I'm a guy after all, and that was my excuse to actually ogle her more thoroughly. She was a very petite girl, tiny frame, with a very nice, lean body, but...oh...did she have curves in all the right places. Her tight jeans that she wore only served to highlight those curves. That ass of hers was stuff that sexually-charged men like me dreamed of. Yup, I noticed that right off the bat.

She had long, mahogany hair that hung in soft waves at the ends down to right above her breasts. From the little exposed bit of skin I could see from the V-neck of her tee, she was pale with skin like that of smooth porcelain, but it looked supple and soft. I quickly imagined running my hands all over her bare skin. She had very delicate features, long lashes, pink lips just ripe for kissing, and very beautiful, deep, chocolate brown eyes. She wore no makeup, but she didn't really need any. The woman was naturally gorgeous.

From further observation, I could see that she was a bit dingy and haggard looking. Her clothes weren't exactly pristine, looking very worn. Her long hair could definitely have benefited from the use of a brush more. This all didn't matter, however, because she was still beautiful. She was actually the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. I imagined that she would look simply stunning when she was all cleaned up.

I concluded that she must be either living in a really bad situation, or she was homeless. You didn't run into women like this on a regular basis in or around Denver. I doubted that her appearance was just due to poor hygiene. She was definitely no teenage runaway, cause she looked to be of legal age. At least, I figured she was legal and prayed silently that she was. My mind briefly thought that she may possibly be one of those roaming crazies we have around town on occasion, but I shook the thought away quickly, not being able to fathom that a girl this gorgeous belonged in a mental institution.

My cock responded quickly to the fact that I was instantly attracted to this girl, despite her disheveled state. There was just something about her when we locked eyes. I hadn't realized that I was still holding on to her fairly tightly, a result of my subconscious having taken over.

I was certainly no slouch in the romance department. I'd been around the block a few times with girls, even at my young age, although I had never been in love with any of them. Somehow, the minute this girl and I bumped into each other, the waves of feeling I instantly felt for her was new and different from anything I had ever felt before. It was weird, intense, and shocking. Somehow I knew deep inside that I could really grow to love this girl. .Fuck!

Trying not to show a hint of my panic, I found my manners, "Miss, are you alright? I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and we ran into one another. Please excuse me." She just nodded her assent, and then blushed. Why? I had no idea. Nonetheless, it had to be one of the sexiest things I had ever seen in a woman.

I hadn't made a move to let her go, nor had she tried to wriggle herself away from my grasps. It actually felt good that she seemed to not be wary of me. She felt comfortable in my grasp somehow and it felt so right to have her there, like she was meant to be in my arms all along. Again, that took me aback.

It occurred to me that her behavior wasn't exactly normal. I was a complete stranger after all. Shouldn't she have been wary? It also didn't seem normal for a young woman such as her to be wandering alone in the middle of the night, granted it was still early in the evening, but it was already dark, and ducking into this alley.

Despite my tight hold on her, she did still looked quite shaken. Though she made no effort to continue running, she kept turning her head back to look behind her towards the other end of the alleyway, as if she was awaiting something, or rather, someone. It took me all of five seconds to figure out that she had been running because she was being chased. Her trembling wasn't at all due to our crashing into one another-she was afraid. Well, thank God though that it wasn't me that she was scared of. But who? What had happened?

Instantly, I felt protective of her. All I could discern was that someone was after her and I'd be damned if I'd let anyone get this beautiful, young lady standing before me. I didn't actually care what they wanted her for, just that I couldn't let anything bad happen to her. Definitely, she was safer while with me.

Well, shit, look at me being all chivalrous, so unlike me. I didn't even know this girl. Where had all this come from?

In my most soothing voice, I asked, "Miss, are you all right? It looks to me that something is very wrong. Is someone chasing you? Is someone after you?" Her eyes grew wide at my words, signaling to me that my assessment was correct. She nodded once more, and then her face contorted into panic as she looked back towards the other end of the alley again.

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><p><strong>END<strong>**A/N:** BTW, Sorry for the long initial A/N. Just had a lot to say and get out of the way. Won't be happening again.


	2. Part 2

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**Rolling out the next couple of parts this evening—first 3 chappies technically. Then, that'll do it for me tonight until Monday. And, yes, there's a method to this madness of where I'm cutting this extended O/S to create the parts.

FYI: I've made this kind of schedule for posting/updating fics of mine—Mondays and Fridays. Something of mine should always update on either of those two days and if we're lucky, and the rest of the days in between have been kind to me, a reader may even get a double update on what they're reading—how about that? No promises to that, however.

**IF YOU'RE READING**

**WON'T YOU PLEASE LEAVE ME A REVIEW?**

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><p><strong>~*Wildflower*~<strong>

**Part 2**

"Why? Who's after you? Are you in trouble? Did they hurt you?" The questions started tumbling out. She refused to say anything and just nodded her head from side to side. She still looked very distressed. I wondered why she wasn't telling me anything.

Then I saw them-shadows of men, illuminated from the street lights above, entering at the other end of the alley. They must've been the ones that were chasing her, because once she caught sight of the same shadows, her eyes instantly showed her alarm, and that was when she began to squirm, trying to fight out of my hold. She wanted to run again. By her reaction, she was indeed afraid, and that told me that the intentions of these men probably weren't good at all.

She looked back once more and more shadows of men appeared. Her eyes widened even further. There were actually five of them and, damn, if they didn't look like quite unsavory characters. As they moved further into the alley, I was able to start seeing their faces clearly. One of them, by look alone, sent a chill down my spine. For certain, these were not friends of this girl and I worried what would happen to her if they did catch up with her. I shuddered at the thoughts and quickly tried to push them out of my mind. I needed to focus if we were going to escape the clutches of these heathens.

I had to help her. These men who were after her could not succeed in capturing her. I knew that I would never last in a fight with these men, especially with how big two of them were. I kick-boxed and knew some self-defense techniques, but all of that would prove useless when I was outnumbered and had to think of this girl's safety above all else. The men were fast-approaching and there was no time to call for help. Therefore, there was no other choice but to make a run for it, cowardly as that was.

I could only hope that she did, in fact, feel much safer with me and allow me to help her escape. She would need to trust me explicitly.

"Listen to me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay. I wanna help you. Would you let me help you?" She nodded yes. "Look, we both know that we're not going to succeed in a fight against those guys. We have no choice but to run. You're going to have to come with me and I bet together we can outmaneuver them. Does that sound good to you?"

She took a moment, as if to weigh her options, before she nodded yes at me again. I took that as our cue to start running like our lives depended on. Well, our lives did probably depend on us getting away from these men. I grabbed her hand, and we bolted, towards the same way I had come in.

The girl was definitely a runner, cause she matched me stride for stride. Before we left the alley, I could hear the men pick up their paces, going from walking cautiously to full out running after us. I didn't really manage a glance back to take a good look, but I could hear their footfalls, and by the sound of them cursing at us, they were very angry. They didn't seem to be running all that fast, however, which would explain how she was able to outrun them beforehand. They hadn't caught up to her until well after she ran into me, and maybe if she hadn't run into me, she may have slipped by them. I now felt partially responsible for the peril we were in.

I weaved us in and out of the crowds on the sidewalk, ducking between buildings, and never stopped even to catch our breaths. They were chasing and so we kept going. I knew exactly where I was heading and that was straight back to the parking garage. I figured getting into my car, and speeding off, would be a good way of losing the men permanently. Thank goodness they didn't seem to have any sort of weapon, cause if they did, we'd probably be in bigger trouble.

We made it to the garage and we briefly paused to check how far behind us they were. They didn't seem to be following us anymore, but we couldn't relax. They may have very well still been after us. They seemed determined to get this girl that was grasping my hand so tight that my knuckles were turning white.

We ran inside the garage, onto the first elevator, and made it to my parking level. Again, we checked if we were being followed. There didn't seem to be anyone after us anymore as we cautiously ran from the elevator and weaved in between the parked cars. Once I caught sight of my car and there still was no sign of the unsavory men, I felt that we were finally safe, so I slowed us to a jogging pace. Maybe we had lost them after all. Good for us.

Once we reached my car, we paused outside of it to catch our breaths. I never relinquished her hand as we both stood there panting, exhausted from the workout. I still kept a watchful eye, though, making sure that there was no one lurking, ready to surprise us. There seemed to be no one around except us.

I finally let go of her hand that I had clutched in mine. We both shook our hands out, grateful to finally be able to relax our fingers. We had both held on pretty tightly, and our palms had been sweaty. My legs burned from the exertion, and I assumed so did hers, as we both stretched out our weary limbs. Her cheeks were flushed, and as she panted, to regain her normal breathing, I couldn't help the immediate fantasy that came floating through my mind-her, flushed, panting breathlessly, and writhing underneath my body caught up in the intensity of our lovemaking.

Shit! Did I just fucking say lovemaking? Why the hell was I even thinking about that? Since when was I ever known to be making love? I fucked, that was pretty much it. This girl, she was just fucking doing all these weird things to me. My head was thoroughly messed up.

We leaned side by side on the car, just trying to gather our wits about us, in companionable silence. I couldn't help but keep staring at her. Despite my blatant ogling, she didn't seem nervous nor did it seem that she minded.

"Are you okay?" I finally said.

She nodded again then gave me a great big smile. I swear that smile of hers made my heart melt and my cock twitch again. Her smile lit up her entire face and I couldn't help but think that how much lovelier she was when she smiled. I endeavored to try and make her smile often. I wanted to see her looking like that always.

"Well, this is a first for me. I'm glad we were able to get away. Thank you for a new adventure. A guy could use that in their life every now and then." I gave her one of my best smirks. "So, I'm Edward, by the way. Edward Cullen. Nice first meeting, huh, and you are..." I held out my hand to her for her to shake. She surprised me by pulling me into a big hug instead. Holy shit! Her arms around me felt so nice!

She gave me a big squeeze and I smiled against her head, even though I was completely taken aback. I wrapped my arms around her to return the gesture. It felt very good. So good that I really didn't want to let her go. As before, it felt very right, standing here holding her like this. Man, what was it about this girl exactly that made me feel this way. It was strange and foreign to me how she stirred up my insides.

Though she looked somewhat unkempt, she still managed to smell nice, very nice, which was also surprising. I didn't mean to judge her, but my mind was just filled with preconceived notions. Oh! This girl greatly intrigued me. I had to find out who the hell she was.

"Hey...hey...you're okay," I said, as we continued to just hold one another and I patted her back. "You're safe now. Everything is going to be all right." I parted us a bit so I could look into her eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you and I won't let anything happen to you, okay. You can trust me. I've proven that already, haven't I?" She nodded once again, then blushed that wonderful blush of hers, before she trained her eyes to the ground.

Again with the not speaking. What was up with that? I thought we'd already established some rapport with one another. Why wasn't she telling me her name?

Lost in the questions in my head, I only vaguely heard the music coming from somewhere. It was faint, but awfully familiar. I checked around and didn't see any speakers anywhere around the parking garage. After a beat, I realized the music had to be coming from my cell phone. I padded my pockets trying to find my phone before it registered to me that the sounds were coming from inside my car. Shit! I had left my phone in my car. I hadn't even realized I had left it inside the car. I immediately disengaged the alarm with my key and unlocked the car. As soon as I opened the door, Bella and I were met with the persistent ring tone of my phone. It was starting and stopping as if on a loop.

Shit! Fuck! Oh my God! That would be Chelsea. I had completely forgotten about her and our date. Rightfully, she was probably wondering where the fuck I was. I had told her I was on my way before I left the parking garage and that was some time ago already, although I had no idea how much time had passed. I had been completely enthralled with the silent goddess standing before me and the adventure she had unwittingly taken me on.

I fumbled for the phone and wasn't able to catch the next call in time, but then it rang again. Of course, it was Chelsea. Before answering, postponing the inevitable tongue lashing I was no doubt about to receive, I briefly checked my call history and found that I had already missed over 15 calls and several texts from both Chelsea and others. They had to be wondering what the fuck happened to me.

Fuck! I was in big trouble. Chelsea was probably worried and pissed all at the same time.

I let yet another call pass and thought about my options. Maybe I shouldn't answer the phone. If I didn't answer, Chelsea would certainly know something had happened to me, causing me to miss meeting up with her and her group. Maybe it would cause her to be more worried than angry.

Then I thought about it some more and my conscience set in. Fuck, I couldn't do that to her. I may be a prick, but I wasn't a cruel person. I couldn't let her believe that something was seriously wrong when I was fine. I had just gotten very distracted. Distracted by a naturally gorgeous, brown-eyed girl with locks of mahogany, who was looking at me quizzically. Of course, Chelsea didn't need to know that. She did need to know I was all right, though. If I didn't answer soon, she might just start notifying the authorities or maybe my family that I had just disappeared. I was left with no other choice. I had to answer the phone. Right on cue, the phone rang again.

I turned to the silent goddess before me, who was still looking at me curiously. "I'm sorry. I gotta take this. Give me a moment," I told her. She nodded for me to go right ahead.

Once I answered the call, I was met with Chelsea's screeching voice again. It seemed all Chelsea did lately was screech at me like a banshee. Holy fuck, was she livid! She kept screaming in my ear, and I really had to hold the phone a good ways away from my ear in order to save my eardrum. I was certain that Chelsea was so loud that her voice carried on past the phone. I bet she had to have been yelling at me from a private place. The restroom maybe? I doubt she'd risk appearances to screech at me over the phone like this somewhere very public.

I knew exactly when the conversation flitted over to the woman standing before me, because I saw my silent goddess eyes grow wide and an expression that I couldn't quite decipher appear upon her face. Admittedly, I was quite embarrassed for both me and Chelsea. My silent goddess gave me a small, sympathetic smile and I shrugged in return.

My ears started ringing from Chelsea's barrage of insults that she kept hurling and she wasn't even letting me get a word in edgewise to try and explain what the hell happened. She just kept blathering on and on in as loud a voice she could muster, as if somehow I couldn't hear her perfectly if she spoke in her normal voice.

It occurred to me that there seemed to be no hint of concern or even sound of relief in her voice as she kept right on ranting. I found that funny, because you would think that there would be. After all, I was set to meet her, had told her I was on my way, but never showed, and since I had left my phone in the car and didn't realize this, I hadn't been answering the calls or texts in attempts to find out my whereabouts. There could've been a dozen calamitous reasons why that was the case. If the situation was reversed, I would've been very worried. Of course, none of this probably registered into that pea brain of hers. All Chelsea cared about was how I stood her and her friends up and how that looked to everyone and what it said about our relationship. She had the nerve to tell me that because of my stunt, we were already the subject of some gossip fodder, which didn't make her happy at all. I just had to shake my head at her words.

Without warning, my silent goddess gave me a brief, albeit awkward hug, then waved goodbye. She started to walk away. What the hell? No! I wasn't about to let her get away. There was still so much more I needed to know about her. If she left now, I may never see her again, and that was completely unacceptable. I absolutely needed to know this girl. I hadn't even gotten a number to reach her, let alone her name yet.

I quickly retorted back to Chelsea, "Listen. Fuck off, okay? I no longer want to hear you ranting like a lunatic. I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I'll just have to talk to you later." I hung up and turned off my phone then ran after my silent goddess.

Mine, huh? I was already taking possession of this chick. I was so very fucked up!

"Hey Miss, wait...wait. Please, please don't go. You can't just leave. I don't even know your name. I don't know how to get in touch with you and I want to. What if I need to get a hold of you? You can't just go," I called out to her. She never bothered to turn around and just waved me off with her hand.

Damn, the girl could really move quickly. In that short amount of time, she was already almost to the elevator of the parking garage. I increased my pace and caught up to her in a few strides. I grabbed her by the elbow and she halted mid-stride, then spun around to face me. A look of confusion was written all over her face.

I took a deep breath then spoke, "Hey there. Hold on a second. I vowed to protect you. I said I wasn't going to let anything happen to you, remember? I can't let you walk out there into the night alone. We don't even know if those men that were chasing after you aren't still just waiting for you to leave this parking garage. I don't want to take the chance that you aren't going to be safe."

Her eyes grew wide again. I guess she hadn't thought of the possibility that those bad men were lying in wait for her.

"You're definitely safer sticking with me. Come on back to my car. Let me take you home," I said pleadingly, really hoping that she'd agree to my offer. She gave me a frown, which dampened my spirits, but then she nodded and mouthed "okay."

Still no sound came from her lips. I had yet to hear her voice. That puzzled me to no end.

We began to stroll back towards my car, my hand still hanging on to her elbow. She then halted and looked between me and my hand on her elbow. I suddenly got nervous. Again, my subconscious had taken over and I hadn't even realized that I was still hanging onto her. It just felt like the most natural thing for me to be touching her. She searched my face momentarily then gave me another unexpected surprise by taking my hand that had been holding on to her elbow and interlacing it with hers.

Her hand was tiny, but it seemed to fit perfectly into mine, and the intimate contact spread a warmth all over me. If I had reservations before about something starting between us, then I didn't now. Being together like this never felt more right. It seemed as natural to me as breathing and I wondered if she felt the same way and that was why she initiated us holding hands again. Did she enjoy as much as I did? Did she feel our strong connection too? I know it couldn't have just been me imagining things. Could I? We definitely had things we needed to talk about and that was why I had to take her home. We could talk more on the car ride. I could only hope she didn't live too close to here.

We walked hand-in-hand without talking and stopped short of the car. I opened the door for her and I noticed the onset of her hesitation about getting inside. It was completely understandable. She may have known my name and that I kindly saved her from a dangerous situation, but the fact was that I was still a complete stranger to her. She wouldn't know me from the next Joe Schmo.

She unclasped her fingers from mine and took a step back, away from the car. She then grasped her two hands together behind her back, trained her eyes to the ground again, and began shuffling her feet. She looked nervous. I wished I knew what she was thinking.

Admittedly, I was a bit nervous too, since I didn't know her from any of the other Jane Doe's out there either. What I did know was that she was so beautiful and I was betting she had to be beautiful on the inside too. This girl piqued my curiosity greatly and I wanted to find out everything I could about her. She obviously needed me and I had this nagging urge to want to take care of her. Lastly, she seemed to have awakened things inside of me that I never even knew existed. Every part of me called out to her as if she was a siren. When I looked into her eyes, I never felt my heart beat so fast.

She was hesitating and I needed to soothe any hesitation she was having. Surprisingly, I had no ulterior motives for wanting to take her home, unlike with other women. I just wanted to spend more time in her company.

After shutting the door to the car, I closed the distance between us and lifted her chin so that she can look at me. "It would be nice to know your name. After all, you already know mine," I expressed and gave her one of my patented smirks.

She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but then closed it again, as if deciding against it. She just nodded her head "no".

No? I couldn't have her name? Why wouldn't she want to tell me her name?

"Hey, what is this? I said you can trust me. Haven't I proven that already? Sue me, but I'd like to get to know better the girl I just rescued. Don't you think I deserve that, at least?" She nodded. It was her standard way of communicating with me, I've found. "In turn, you can get to know me. Maybe you'd want to start. Would that help you get over your hesitation about me knowing your name and taking you home? Go ahead and ask me anything you want then. I don't mind. I'll answer any question you might have," I proclaimed. A frown then graced her features.

Seeing her frown like that caused me to pout. This beautiful girl in front of me shouldn't be frowning. It was unbecoming for her. I wondered what was wrong? Maybe she didn't care to get to know me?

I reached out and tried to smooth the furrow in her brows. "You're still awfully quiet," I pointed out. She just nodded again. This silence was getting a little frustrating.

Then, oops, I said exactly the wrong thing next, "Boy, you don't say much, do you?" Those words upset her. Her frown became more pronounced, her lips began quivering, and before I knew it, she burst into tears.

Fuck! What the hell? Here I was trying to make her feel better and open up to me, and I just ended up making her cry. I definitely handled her wrong. Damn, I really wished I knew what was going on in her mind. A real, fucking clue about this chick would be nice.

I've always typically shied away from crying girls, not wanting to deal with women's standard, hormonal, emotional bullshit; however, with her I actually wanted to stop her tears. I was at a loss, though, and really didn't know what I needed to do. First off, it would have been fucking nice to know what it was I said or did that caused her to shed tears in the first place.

I locked gazes with her again, and used the pads of my thumbs to wipe away her flowing tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Did I say or do something wrong?" I asked. She vigorously nodded her head from side to side, and mouthed the word "no" without a sound. I was so close to her face that I was able to read her lips.

She stepped further back away from me, and I released her from my arms. I hadn't even realized that we were still locked in an embrace. She took a moment to compose herself, exhaling a deep breath, before she started doing some shit with her hands that I did not understand at all. She started with some quick, mumbo-jumbo, gestures and a look of confusion must've been written all over my face because she paused then changed tactic.

I really had no idea what the hell she was doing and what it had to do with me upsetting her. Like I said, a fucking clue would be quite nice.

First, my silent goddess placed both her hands over her mouth and shook her head, then she gestured that her mouth was being zipped, and then she drew a big 'X' over her lips. Lastly, she held a hand to her throat, and gestured as if she was throwing something away.

What the fuck? Since when did we start playing fucking charades? I hated charades. I was never good at the damn game.

She just kept up with her gestures, and her face looked pained from the effort of what she was trying to convey, but I wasn't understanding her at all. Goddammit, I was seriously confused. Obviously, she was trying to tell me something, but I just wasn't getting it.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to? Maybe she was just fucking with me. I was beginning to seriously doubt that she wasn't an escaped mental patient.

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><p><strong>END<strong>**A/N:** I'm on Twitter, btw. If you want to follow me, although I can't imagine why you'd want to. But just as a courtesy to my readers who may ask and/or wonder: randommama

Just a little pimp out of my other stories...Care to give them a try? If you haven't already.

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	3. Part 3

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**Here's Part 3! I'll see you readers again on Monday. And a big thank you very much for even reading this little story of mine. It's much appreciated!

Again, Mega hugs and kisses to my most wonderful-amazing-the shiznit-ultra talented beta, Cheermom, who edited this monster of a O/S and got it back to me piece by piece each time to meet the challenge deadlines.

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><p><strong>~*Wildflower*~<strong>

**Part 3**

No. I could not think that way. In reading her expression, she was serious about trying to communicate whatever this was to me. She wouldn't have looked exacerbated if she was just playing with me. I focused on her actions, really trying to figure out what it was she was trying to tell me through them. Then realization dawned on me, and I'm sure my face looked as if a light bulb had gone off in my head. From the look upon her face, I could tell that she knew I finally understood. Her expression then turned dubious.

All of her gestures related to her voice. It was as if she was telling me that she wasn't going to talk.

"You don't want to talk to me?" I asked, a bit put out by the realization. She vehemently shook her head "no."

To me, it was as if she was confirming what I had asked. My expression faltered. I thought she was comfortable enough around me already. I guess I was wrong.

"Um, okay...if that's the way you feel. I understand. Really, I do. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You don't need to tell me anything about yourself. I'm not going to force anything out of you," I stammered out, but my voice clearly didn't hide my disappointment.

She shook her head "no" again, and came close enough that she could touch my face tenderly. She took to hand signals once again, this time placing her hand over her heart, then up to her mouth, and then onto me over my heart.

All right, this meant something again. I just had to figure out what. Hmm...this was a bit more than charades now. I realized I'd seen this before. I just couldn't put my finger on it at the moment. I thought back and racked my brain-this looked a lot like sign language. Sign language? Once my mind drifted there, it was as if the light bulb turned on again in my head.

"You can't talk?" I asked for clarification. She bit her bottom lip then vigorously nodded "yes."

She then trained her eyes to the ground again and seemed to be drawing imaginary figures on the ground with her feet while she shuffled them. She was clearly both nervous and uncomfortable about me having this knowledge.

"What? What happened? Did you lose your voice or something? Was it from the shock of your experience tonight? Do you need a moment or something?" She shook her head "yes" and then "no," and kept doing so. I guessed it meant I got part of it right.

She opened her mouth again, as if to speak, and then shook her head from side to side, and also mimed wildly again with her hands. It took me a moment to process what she was trying to tell me, but I think I finally fully comprehended it. Hey, I was getting better at interpreting this shit.

She was mute. Aww, hell. Fuck! She was a mute!

For the longest time I just stared at her, as if she was a wild animal at the zoo. I probably looked like a stupid idiot gaping at her the way I did. I just couldn't reconcile the fact that a beauty such as her was unfortunately, mute. I didn't know how I'd lost my manners, but I did recover myself. I could only hope that she hadn't felt insulted.

"I think I got it now. You're mute. You can't speak. You try, but no sound comes out." I cocked an eyebrow at her to gauge her reaction. She nodded her agreement earnestly, meaning that I was right.

It wasn't as if she just lost her voice, she really couldn't speak. Her ability to make a sound was gone. So, any chance of conversation I wanted was out the window. I began to wonder why she was that way.

I reckoned that she actually knew how to talk. It wasn't as if she was just communicating through clicks and grunts like a caveman. She was far more intelligent than that. It seemed to me that she wanted to talk, just that the words wouldn't come spilling forth from her voice.

I also noticed that it couldn't have had anything physical to do with her tongue. I had noticed when her tongue would dart out to lick her lips, so she definitely had one and it looked perfectly normal to me. I doubted that she didn't have a voice box. It lent credence to my theory that this had to have been a result of some sort of trauma; maybe psychologically induced?

Yup, I was noticing her tongue, and every time I'd see a hint of it, I had to restrain myself from diving in to kiss those perfect lips of hers, and wanting to stick my own tongue into that divine mouth she had. I had really wanted to, but it wouldn't have been proper; considering that we just met, I had just rescued her from some unsavory characters, and I just found out she was mute.

"Do you know how to talk?" I asked softly, wary that I might offend her. She nodded her head "yes." "You just can't. Your voice, it has been gone for a while, but its something you simply can't recover," I inquired some more. Another nod of affirmation.

From first impressions, it didn't seem that she was born with this disability. I wouldn't exactly put her in the deaf, dumb, and mute category, which was the likely place most people's minds that meet her would go at first. Something really bad must've happened to her to bring this on was my best guess and I instantly felt sorry for her.

"What... happened? How. Come. You. Can't. Talk?" I found that I raised my voice a couple of octaves and was talking slower than normal, really drawing out each word and syllable. She rolled her eyes at me.

Shit! That was stupid! She was mute, not deaf. Her hearing was just fine. I knew that and I internally face palmed myself. What the hell was I thinking? Talk about my brain leaving me.

She didn't hold it against me, though. My silent goddess took my fuck up in stride and just chuckled at me. I guess that happened to her a lot. At least, she wasn't insulted. It wouldn't have boded well for me if I pissed her off with my stupidity. I still really liked her despite her inability to speak.

It was at this moment that my thoughts drifted to how nice it would be if Chelsea couldn't talk. I wouldn't have to ever hear her screeching at me again. But, I digress.

I decided to apologize. Whoa! That's new. Normally, I really could care less if I'd hurt a girl's feelings, except that of my mother and grandmother. I always felt girls were too sensitive for my tastes.

"Aw, fuck, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to act like that. Sometimes I just don't think," I apologized and was shamefaced. Then I gave her my best Edward Cullen pout. I really was upset with myself.

She came over and put both her hands on my face and mouthed "okay." She was forgiving. Another plus in her favor. That made my heart soar. Actually, every time she touched me, my heart soared.

She backed away again, probably embarrassed by our sudden closeness. We locked eyes once more and she blushed again. That was another telltale sign from her. I would watch closely whenever she blushed. I was starting to get the hang of reading my silent goddess.

Maybe all her blushing meant she liked me too, if only a little. That thought put a smile on my face. Again, she looked at me quizzically.

This girl, whoever she was, greatly intrigued me. I didn't even know her name yet, but I would get it. I wanted to get to know her better, even more so now. I actually wanted to find out all there is to know about her.

Normally, I would've cared less. It wasn't about getting to know girls for me, it was about getting into their panties. Not that I didn't want inside my silent goddess panties, cause I did. I admit it. However, she was so much more than just a means for sexual gratification to me.

I wanted to find out why she couldn't speak, and possibly help her to recover it. I wanted to know how she survived being unable to talk all this time. I even wanted to know mundane things like what was her favorite color, what music she liked, and what was her favorite breakfast food item. I really wanted to be a part of her life, more than I ever wanted anything else before. More importantly, I needed to help her.

There was no getting rid of me now. I was determined to wriggle myself into her life and become a major part of it. I am Edward Cullen after all and I usually got what I wanted.

However, I needed to figure out how we were going to communicate. This situation we found ourselves in was rather awkward. Here she was, this beautiful girl I've instantly become smitten with, but she couldn't talk with me-not easily at least.

Most other guys might actually find the fact that she was mute a benefit. I didn't. I really wished I could hear her speak and especially hear what kind of voice she had. I imagined her voice to be sultry and sexy, one to match her naturally gorgeous self. There went my dick taking over my mind again.

I really didn't know sign language, and like I had said before, I was shit with charades. I also wasn't practiced at reading lips either. Apart from the two letter syllables she'd made thus far, I doubt I could discern much more. It was a wonder that I had gotten this far with interpreting her.

All of those mentioned seemed to be her preferred form of communication. I wasn't sure if she could even read or write. We'd be totally fucked if she couldn't. We'd be wasting an enormous amount of time with me trying to interpret her actions.

What about me becoming a part of her life? Something inside told me that her situation was quite delicate. I was never one to be patient, so I'd want things to happen fairly quickly; however, I didn't know how that would affect her. The last thing I wanted to do is scare her off.

How was I going to handle all this? I had never in my life met someone mute before. Well, yes and no questions seemed to worked out for us so far. It would be a start. At least, I can find out a little more about her and her condition.

"Um, I got to admit that I'm really worthless shit when it comes to sign-language and charades. You could already see that it took me a long time to figure out what you were trying to tell me. It's going to be difficult to communicate. I'm so relieved, though, to finally understand why you'd been so silent all this time. I'm so sorry this has happened to you. You don't deserve it," I said sympathetically.

Silent goddess nodded her head back and forth, telling me "no" I suppose, then she placed a finger over my lips. I think she wanted me to stop talking that way. I nodded at her.

God help me, though, all I could think about was that I could just stick out my tongue and draw that lovely finger into my mouth. I badly wanted to have a taste. My cock agreed by the way it started to twitch inside my pants. I reigned myself in and cleared my head of all my lascivious thoughts. The last thing she needed from me was for me to become all Neanderthal male on her and start hitting on her.

When she took her finger away from my lips, I instantly felt the loss; however, I remembered the task at hand. So I asked her, "Can I ask you more about being mute?" She nodded for me to go ahead. "Uh, I'm only going to ask you yes or no questions, okay? That way, it would be easy on both of us." Another nod of "yes".

"Were you born this way?" She gave me a "no," then I continued, "Did you ever speak, like when you were younger?" That was a "yes.""Did you get sick and lose your voice, now you've got the longest and worst case of laryngitis ever?" That garnered a chuckle from the both of us, before she nodded "no."

"But something must've happened for you to end up like this." She affirmed it. "Do you know what it was that happened?" She nodded "no."

"You're okay with not speaking?" She shook her head "yes," then shrugged. I guess that meant that she had gotten used to it. "Well, you seem to be getting along fine without the use of your voice," I had pointed out. She nodded again. That wasn't really a yes or no question.

It occurred to me then that she must be getting tired of motioning with her head. It wouldn't be easy for sure. All my questions were probably aiding her in developing whiplash. I suddenly felt sheepish.

"Aw, geez, having to answer all my questions is probably hurting your neck. I'm sorry. I'm just a nosy ass. You really don't owe me any explanations." With that my face fell. I felt I was royally screwing up my chances with her. I was being too eager.

She brought my face up to look at her again, and nodded from side to side, telling me that it wasn't true; however, one of her hands came up to rub at the back of her neck, which meant she was growing weary.

"You do know that, while you're trying to tell me that I'm not tiring out your head, you're rubbing the back of your neck. That's a definite contradiction," I told her. She gave a lopsided smirk, blushed, and then trained her eyes to the ground, probably embarrassed at being caught in the lie.

"Ugghh...," I exclaimed and sighed in frustration. "It's okay. It's my fault. I want to talk to you and get to know you...and, and...I'm just too eager for information. I'm overstepping, I know. I just...I just don't know what I'm doing, and...I'm an idiot, I know. I...I...just..." She placed a single finger over my mouth to silence me. Then she motioned as if she was writing something on her hand.

It took a beat to process what she was trying to say. "You need something to write on? You want to write? You can write." A big smile graced her beautiful face.

I delighted in this new revelation. It was going to make things a hell of a lot easier. I knew I had a little notepad in my satchel from work.

"I have a little notepad in the car. I'll go get it." I moved towards the car, but a thought entered my head. "Wait, before I go get the notepad, can I just ask one more thing? Don't worry it isn't a yes or no question, but you can answer it for me." She gestured with her hands for me to continue. "Uh, you told me earlier that you used to talk. When exactly did you stop talking? If you don't mind me asking." She held up ten fingers.

"You've stopped talking now for ten years," I nearly shouted. "How old are you exactly?" She then held up ten fingers, closed her hand, then held up ten fingers again. "You're twenty then?" She nodded her head, then once again rubbed her neck. "Oh sorry," I said sheepishly again. I had forgotten that her neck must have been sore.

She was legal and my body rejoiced. I know it was bad of me to automatically think about that, but what can I say, I was falling fast for this girl and that was an important thing to find out. My mind then registered that she stopped talking when she was around ten years old. Something must've happened when she was ten that caused her to stop speaking. I was now determined to find out what.

A slight breeze blew into the parking garage and my silent goddess visibly shivered. The temperature was obviously dropping, probably as a result of a thunderstorm moving in. I needed to get her into the warmth of the car. It was also getting pretty late now and I also needed to get her home. Heck, I needed to get home myself and get some rest; it had been a long night and there was work I still needed to get done tomorrow. Not to mention that I wanted to get started on solving the mystery of why this beautiful girl, who seemed to be so full of life, stopped vocalizing.

I gently took her hand in mine and guided her over to my car. I opened the car door for her, and without any hesitation this time, she got inside and settled into the passenger seat. I went around to the driver's side and settled in. I reached over to the back seat and grabbed my work satchel, taking out the small notepad and a pen, and handed it to her. She graciously took it with a nod of thanks. Afterwards, she rubbed her neck again. I guess her neck muscles were really strained. I decided I needed to do something about that.

"Okay, this is going to sound strange, but if you would please just turn around for me for just a bit," I asked and pointed her to face in the direction of the passenger side window. She had a questioning look upon her face. "If you just trust me, I assure you won't regret it." She still looked puzzled but obliged me. I now had perfect access to that strained neck of hers.

I put my hands at the base of her neck where it met her shoulders and she immediately tensed; however, as soon as I started kneading the muscles in my hands, she realized what I was doing and began to relax. I was known to give a pretty good massage when I wanted to, but I rarely had given one without the promise of some sexual satisfaction later. It made me realize just how much of a selfish bastard I used to be.

This incredible woman in front of me had already changed me so much in the few hours that I've known her. It was something none of the women in my past, including Chelsea, had ever accomplished before. The even funnier thing was that I still didn't know her name.

Her muscles at her neck and shoulders were really tense and knotted. No wonder why it hurt after all the nodding I made her do. I worked my fingers into her muscles trying to take out all the kinks. I wanted her to feel nothing but relaxed from now on.

It was hard to read whether she was enjoying this as much as I was. I usually had the benefit of satisfactory moans that stroked my ego and went straight to my cock, but obviously that was out of the question. Not that having my hands on her like this didn't send a message to my cock anyways. Said cock was responding in my pants and I was starting to feel quite uncomfortable down there. But, I couldn't think about myself; this was all about her. I discreetly shifted in my seat trying to ease the discomfort. I also reigned in my strong desire to taste the skin where my hands were massaging. Her skin was so soft and I really felt that her elegant neck deserved kisses being lavished on it by my all too willing mouth. The more I massaged her lovely neck, the more I had this strong urge to leave my mark on her, letting others know that somehow this beautiful girl was mine. I didn't of course, since I wasn't a complete Neanderthal. But damn was I tempted.

I could only hope that my massage was helping her since I didn't have the benefit of seeing her face either. I figured, though, that I should end this little massage before I ended up giving in to my innermost desires. The moment I felt her shoulders go limp seemed like a good time to stop and just in time too, since I didn't know how much longer I could have held onto my control.

After the massage was through, she turned in her seat to face me and gave me another welcomed hug. It didn't last too long before she pulled away from the embrace and I immediately felt the loss. I thought about how there aren't a lot of things in this world that I'd rather be doing over being in her arms. That was another new revelation since I was never much of a cuddlier.

You know how women liked being cuddled after sex. Yeah, that was never me. Although, now with this woman, I felt that I wouldn't mind holding her until morning came.

She settled back into her seat and gave me what I could only guess was the sign for thank you. I said, "Your welcome," and she smiled at me again, probably glad that I understood. She had the notebook and pen neatly placed on her lap and I remembered that there was still so much I wanted to know about her.

"Can we talk some more?" I asked. She nodded her head. "You can use that," I reminded her, pointing to the notebook and pen in her lap.

Again, she nodded her head, then smiled, before she picked up the notebook and pen and began to vigorously write. When she was done, she turned the pad over so that I could see. The first thing I noticed was that she had beautiful penmanship. It certainly was more legible than my scrawl. I also saw that she had perfect grammar and spelling. This also led me to know that this girl was indeed educated.

_Hi, Edward. I'm Bella. It's a pleasure to meet you._

_Thank you for coming to my rescue and your continued kindness. _

_Your massage was wonderful. I've never had someone give me one before. I appreciate it._

_I knew you were one of the good guys the moment I ran into you._

_Sorry for that, by the way. I didn't mean to. I was just racing to get away from_

_those awful men. I really didn't see you in my path._

_But, I can't say that I regret now having run into you._


	4. Part 4

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**Here's Part 4! Just one post of this story today. I need to get an update for one of my other stories ready and posted as well sometime before this day ends. I'll see you readers on Friday.

Looks like the story is starting to gain attention. Thanks to all those that have Favorite this story and put it on alert. I appreciate the support very much. I hope to not let you guys down and keep you interested.

So welcome to all the new readers!

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><p><strong>~*Wildflower*~<strong>

**Part 4**

"Bella. So that's your name. I'd been wondering how I was going to be able to find that out. I was afraid that I might have had to play some type of guessing game to figure it out and you might actually get offended if I tried to guess your name as being something horrible like Gertrude, Viola, or something like that." She gave a silent laugh, obviously enjoying my remark. "That name suits you, Bella. It means beautiful in Italian, you know. You're very beautiful." I told her honestly. She blushed that beautiful blush of hers, and ducked her head away. She began writing once more.

_You're too kind! I must look like a mess right now._

I gave her an incredulous look. "I won't have any of that. You look beautiful. End of story. As for running into me, there's no need for you to apologize. It was as much my fault. I wasn't exactly watching where I was going either. I'm only glad that you weren't hurt in our collision. I'm not exactly the softest thing to run into." With that I chuckled, and she did also. "I can't say I regret running into you either."

_Hah! You haven't denied that I look like a real mess. _

_The things that you must be thinking. _

"You may be rough around the edges, but you're still very beautiful. I saw that straight away. Don't ever believe anything less." It was the truth.

She reached a hand over and caressed my face. I leaned my face into her touch and she smiled. I felt the loss of her touch once more when she pulled her hand away. I thought to myself that I had to find some way to make these kinds of moments last a bit longer.

"Um, Bella...please tell me that you aren't living on the street somewhere."

_I guess you would gather that from my appearance. _

_No. I'm not living out on the street, but I don't exactly have a home, either._

_Speaking of which, I need to get back. It's getting late. I don't want to get locked out._

"Oh thank God." My relief was evident. "I was so afraid. That would never do. Admittedly, the thought entered my mind, especially when you hesitated to get in the car the first time. So tell me, where it is that I can take you? Do you live in some sort of group home?"

_Uh, something like that._

_Are you sure? I don't want you to feel obligated._

_I can walk back. I'll be fine taking care of myself from now on._

_I'm sure you've got better things to do._

"Nonsense. I told you before that I wasn't going to let you go out there alone and especially not now that it's gotten later. I'm seeing this through until you're home safe. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hang out with you more and get to know you better. Believe me, I don't have better things to do. Now, where is it we're going?" I started up the car and proceeded to back out of the space. She didn't write out anything. She just looked at me for a good long while, shrugged, then entered a destination on my car's built-in GPS, confounding me yet again.

"Don't take this the wrong way. But I'm assuming you don't have a car, yet you know how to use a sophisticated GPS system that even I have trouble using sometimes. That's kind of amazing."

I navigated the levels of the parking lot, heading for the exit, while she wrote. Only when we reached the waiting area for paying and I had to stop was when Bella tapped my shoulder to show me what she had written.

_I know a few things. You can say I'm a girl full of surprises._

_Btw, this is so much easier, communicating with you this way._

_You obviously don't know sign language too well and you seem to suck at charades._

"Well, you definitely got things right. I totally suck at charades. It had never been one of my favorite games and I was never one to have gone to parties where it's played. If I had known then that it would've come in handy to be good at it, then I'd probably paid better attention before. I'm so glad that you could read and write. I didn't really know off-hand, I admit. I like communicating this way too, although it'll be tough talking to you once we're out on the road. I guess we'll manage. But, the great thing is that it's better for your neck. And, yeah, you're full of surprises. If you don't mind me saying so again...you are amazing and I think I'd like to discover more of these surprises you hold."

I finally inserted the little parking stub and put my credit card into the machine to pay, so that we could be on our way. Fortunately, there was no one else exiting the garage; otherwise, we'd probably have caused a back up and would've heard horns telling us to get a move on.

It was starting to pour. My earlier prediction of a thunderstorm having moved in, the reason for why it suddenly got chilly, was correct. That was just how Colorado was-the weather changed on a dime. I became thankful that I had Bella here with me, safe and warm in my car, instead of out there in the rain, unpredictability, and darkness of the night.

As we waited at the exit for traffic to clear, Bella tapped me on the shoulder again and showed me her notepad once more. I had to laugh at what she wrote first.

_I promise not to make you read and drive. That would be dangerous, especially in the rain._

_It would be just as bad as someone talking on a cell or texting while driving._

_Thank you again for the ride. It would be no fun getting all wet._

_Though, I'd like us to continue talking. If that's okay?_

_But, maybe instead of me writing you things, you can tell me more about yourself? _

Since there was no one waiting behind us, I basically parked the car again and took the opportunity to turn and face her. "More about me, huh? I'm really not that interesting of a person, unlike you. But I'll tell you anything you want to know. Maybe you should write down a bunch of things you want to know now, so that I can read it. Then I can spout out answers while we're on our way."

Bella checked behind us to make sure nobody was waiting, then she began writing earnestly. I wondered what she was writing down on her notepad. Within moments she was done and showed it to me, and I couldn't help but think about how fast she could write. Well, that was better than thinking about how nice those fingers would be wrapped around my cock.

_Tell me anything and everything. I really want to know the man that has become like my knight in shining armor. _

_Just go with what would be comfortable for you to talk to me about._

_Favorite color, favorite food, your job, your family, any pets, your childhood, favorite childhood memory._

_Just talk. Tell me anything. _

_I promise I won't get bored :)_

"Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you, if you do start to get bored to death or something," I joked with her.

I then proceeded to tell her things about myself as we drove along. I talked and talked and told her things from the most mundane like my favorite color was black to more complicated things like how my brother and I didn't quite get along all because of a girl. I think I even imparted information to her that some past girlfriends didn't even know. I don't think I'd ever been so open in my life. She was just the type of person I instantly felt comfortable revealing things to, or maybe it was just the effect she had on me. How many times in just the few short hours that I've known her that I'd already changed a lot of my past ways?

-XXXXX-

The place we were heading to was a goddamn homeless shelter, at least that was what the GPS told me it was. I was right and she was homeless. No such luck that she was living in a group home or some run down, ratty, apartment with like a dozen roommates. Not that those would've been any better living conditions. My heart truly went out to her. It just didn't seem right for her to be in such circumstances. I wouldn't count living in a shelter as having a home either. But, I was grateful that she at least had a roof over head. I wondered how long she had been staying there and what happened to have her been put in such circumstances.

The shelter was a good 12 blocks away from where we currently were at. It was on the northern end of the downtown area and that part of town was typically known as the roughest part of Denver. I knew I never had to venture there so I was glad for the GPS guiding my way. I didn't like that Bella was anywhere near that area at all. Bella didn't belong there. How she managed to wander so far and only by her own two feet would be a question I'd save for later. I'd hoped that those bad men who were chasing her hadn't driven her all the way to where I ran into her. I'd seen movies on this and I had an inkling what their plans were with her-make her lost and then they'd catch up with her and I wouldn't dare think of what would happen afterwards. I'd never been more grateful to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this homeless shelter that she was currently living in, either. Truthfully, I had never been to one, but I could only imagine that it wasn't a comfortable place to be. It was certainly no place for one such as Bella. Who knows whom else she'd been subjected to while staying there. I endeavored to get her out of there. She didn't know it yet, but she was coming home with me tonight. I wasn't about to leave her there. I planned on just bringing her there, so that she can grab whatever little possessions she may have, if she even had any. There was no way in hell that I was leaving without her by my side, if I could help it. Of course, I had yet to tell her all this. I was honestly afraid of how she would react, although her tender actions and trusting demeanor towards me gave me hope.

We passed by a McDonald's and I suddenly remembered that I hadn't had anything to eat yet for dinner. I started to feel the small pangs of hunger in my stomach and as if on cue, my stomach even growled. Then I looked over to Bella sitting beside me and it made me think about when the last time she must've eaten. Normally, eating at McDonald's was beneath me, but there didn't seem to be any other options around these parts. Besides, stopping for food would prolong me having to get her back to the shelter and it would be more time alone to spend with her. I'm sure that shelter didn't offer too much privacy. At the next light, I pulled into the turning lane so that I could make a U-turn back to the McDonald's and a visible look of confusion was on Bella's face.

I began to explain, "Bella. When was the last time you ate anything?" She scribbled on her paper.

_Admittedly, I haven't eaten all day. I was just about to line up some food when those men came after me. I don't have any money._

_But, I couldn't take further advantage of your generosity. You've already done too much._

_I'll be all right. Please just take me back to the shelter._

"I'm sorry. I can't do that just yet. You need to eat something and frankly, so do I. It's a wonder how you had any energy to outrun those men. It's not a burden and it's not like it would be anything fancy. It'll just be McDonald's Anyways, I'm not taking no for an answer."

The light turned and I made a U-turn to head back in the direction of the McDonald's One good thing about fast food is that they're usually open at this time of night.

I pulled into the McDonald's and into a parking space. Before I even shut off the engine, she gripped my arm tightly and when I turned to face her, she had a look of utter terror on her face. I gave her a questioning look. She wrote on her notepad.

_I can't go in there, Edward. I'm not presentable at all._

I chuckled softly to myself. Even homeless, she was still first and foremost a girl, and girls worried about their appearances all the time.

"If you ask me, you look fine. No one would even notice, especially in this neighborhood. But, if you're really against it, I guess we can go through the drive-thru." She nodded, liking that idea better.

I pulled in front of the speaker and looked over the menu. Nothing looked particularly appetizing, but I settled on ordering their Angus Mushroom and Swiss Burger, making a meal out of it with fries and a large Coke, figuring it had to better than the rest of the stuff that they had. Oh how I wished I had some rum to put into my drink after the night I had.

"Go ahead and order whatever you want. Don't you feel shy about it," I told Bella. She wrote on her pad.

_Anything? You're serious?_

"Yeah. You must be hungry. Hungrier than me for sure. Have whatever you want. It's not like it'll be breaking my bank anyways paying for this stuff."

Bella smiled a great big smile and jotted her order down, then handed me the paper. Her face tensed with worry as I read. My eyes nearly bugged out from reading what she wanted. She practically ordered half the menu and I couldn't believe that she could've been that hungry and could eat all this food. But, hell, what do I know. She probably has gone days without eating and for certain this would be the first food in her mouth all day from what she's confessed to me. I couldn't fault her for taking advantage of this opportunity. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same if I were in her situation. I gave her a smile letting her know that I wasn't bothered by her wanting all this food and ordered the food happily. Her face then relaxed and she bounced in her seat in anticipation. It didn't matter, anyway, I already knew that I wouldn't deny her anything.

I never thought that I'd ever see the day where I'd be spending over fifty dollars on food from McDonald's As I gave her the bags containing the food to hold, I watched her as she savored the smell emanating from the bags. Her tongue licked her lips several times in anticipation of tasting the food, and each time I caught a glimpse of that tongue of hers, my cock twitched. She put the bags down at her feet and turned her attention to the holder that contained our drinks, her milkshake, and sundae. Her eyes grew wide with appreciation as she eyed the chocolate milkshake and the hot fudge sundae, like she was deciding which one to dive into first. She was like a kid in a candy store, her face lighting up as the food assaulted her various senses.

In seeing her like this, my heart actually swelled with joy for her, because who knew I could make anyone look so happy with something as simple as McDonald's But, I suppose for someone in her situation, this would've been the equivalent of being taken to a five-star restaurant for the first time. What I had spent on the food was mere pocket change and I would've gladly spent hundreds more if I had known she'd light up like this.

After we left the drive-thru, I pulled into a parking space, just to make sure the minimum waged paid employees didn't screw up any of our huge order. I also checked if they had given us our straws, enough napkins, ketchup, and sauces that we needed. I would've hated diving into the food, only to find that we had no napkins or ketchup for the fries. Everything was good with our order, though, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Bella tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see what she had written on her notepad. I was sure it would be about how she was ready to eat.

_Are we going to eat now in the car, here?_

"No," I began. "I have a better idea. Something nicer that I think you might like. But, feel free to start with your sundae before it completely melts. Just, um, try not to make a mess inside the car, okay? These interiors are tough to clean."

Bella nodded and eagerly reached for her sundae to get started on it. She placed napkins on her lap, tucked one into her shirt like a bib, and laid napkins down on either side of her legs on the exposed parts of her seat, and I had to smile at that-she was being so considerate about the interior of my car.

I watched her as she spooned some of the sundae from the cup and put it into her mouth. She moaned the single sexiest moan I'd ever heard from a woman and ran her tongue over her lips in appreciation of the sweet confection in such a provocative way that my cock twitched in response. My throat went dry and I grabbed for my Coke quickly and drank to soothe the dryness. As I continued to watch Bella thoroughly enjoy her dessert, I had never been more jealous of that spoon. Fuck me, I was jealous of an inanimate object.

I decided we better get going so we can actually start to eat the food before it went cold. That and if I stayed in that spot much longer watching her eat her sundae, I would've jumped her bones right then and there.

The navigation system told me there was a park not too far from where we were at and it seemed a good place to stop and have a night picnic. There was no way we were eating inside my car and risking the interior to get dirty; even I didn't trust myself not to drip some of the special sauce out of my burger with how hungry I was, and I fucking wasn't going to be laying out a bunch of napkins to cover every exposed surface like Bella had done. Besides, we didn't have that many napkins.

Now that her sundae was finished, I could tell Bella was eager to taste the rest of her food; however, she was being respectful enough not to just dive into the food until we reached our destination. I drove to the park, which fortunately for us, wasn't trashed. We got out of the car, taking all the food with us, and Bella made sure to remember to bring her little notepad and pen. We found a nearby picnic table that was dry enough to eat on and claimed it as ours.

The rain had stopped a while ago, leaving the park refreshed and smelling nice with the flowers still in bloom. The clouds had gone and with the sky clear, the moon shone brightly and the stars were out. There was a nearby street lamp to illuminate our spot. We were the only ones there. I thought it made for a pretty nice setting for a dinner date, even if it was only fast food we were eating. Bella looked appreciative and that was all that mattered to me. I noted to myself that I'd have to do this again with her another time, at one of the nicer parks around town, and come better prepared, like bring a blanket, some candles, and certainly have better food.

We both sat side-by-side on the table while our feet rested on the bench. I found it funny that we both chose to sit that way. Chelsea would've considered it undignified. Heck, Chelsea would've never been happy to eat fast food; it was beneath her. She would've rather driven all night to find a worthier restaurant or worse yet, starved, than subject herself to eating at a McDonald's Just went to show how different Bella was from her and the other women in my past. It made me realize further that Chelsea and other women like her in my past were not the kind of women I actually wanted or saw as a partner.

However, Bella already meant a lot to me. She had charmed me with her beauty and simple nature.

Bella had inched so close to me that our legs brushed against each other's. She looked to me as if to ask if it was okay. Of course, I had no problem with it and smiled at her. She beamed back and we both dove into our food and ate in relative silence, just enjoying the close proximity of one another and the beauty of the night.

It was a chilly night due to the rain and knowing we were going to be eating outside, I had lent Bella my hoodie that I always kept in the car. In Denver, with the weather having the propensity to change at a moment's notice, it was always good to be prepared. She looked damn good in my hoodie and I couldn't help but stare at her while I finished off my burger and fries. I'd love to get her out of her clothes and into more of mine. She tapped my shoulder and showed me her note.

_What are you staring at? Do I have something in my teeth?_

"No," I said with a chuckle. "You're just beautiful. I like looking at you." We both blushed at what I said. She didn't write anything else in comment, but instead busied herself with polishing off her second cheeseburger.

"Bella," I murmured. She turned from her seat and looked my way, munching on some fries and starting in on her chicken nuggets. "I want you to know that I'm really glad that we found a way to communicate. I actually enjoy talking to you. I don't think I could ever say that to any other woman, not even my mother. I don't know what I would've done if we couldn't communicate. I'm really no good at all the sign language and miming stuff. We would have had a difficult time for certain. I would learn it for you, though, and I'd like you to teach me," I paused and she looked at me wide-eyed. She was going to write something in response, but I stopped her. I continued, "You know, I would've suggested writing things out in the first place, but I didn't know exactly if you were literate. I hope you're not offended by me thinking that. I've just been very stupid about your world."

Bella put pen to paper once more. She wrote in earnest, her food temporarily forgotten.

_Oh, Edward, no, I'm not offended._

_I know that it's a common mis-perception that people have that the homeless are illiterate._

_And especially since that I am mute, people automatically conclude that I am dumb and have had_

_no education._

_I know others don't usually know how to deal with someone like me. More often, people would sooner take advantage of me, than try to help or get to know me._

_Like those vile men. If you hadn't come along, I was sure that they would've caught up or found me eventually._

_I shudder to think what their bad intentions were, although_

_I knew that they definitely had bad intentions. _

I also shuddered at the thought of those men chasing after my sweet, beautiful Bella. I did as she had done previously and put my free hand up to her face and caressed it after I read those lines. To my joy, she leaned into my touch. I was wondering if she felt the strong connection between us as well. I had my suspicions, but I couldn't be certain.

_Unlike you._

_You've been so wonderful. More than I could ever had hoped._

_I promise I will repay your kindness, starting with teaching you some signs._

_But, um, may I ask why you'd want to learn?_

_Do you think you could use it in the future?_

"Oh my dear, Bella. I apologize again for my ignorance and for making your neck hurt earlier." She shook her head "no," as if to say that there was no need. I moved on. "You don't have to repay me anymore than teaching me how to sign. That'll be all I'll need from you now. You've already done me the great honor of becoming my friend. Uh, we are friends now, right?" I asked nervously. She nodded and I had to smile at that. I continued, "Help me learn to communicate with you better, so that I don't strain your hand next by making you constantly write in order to talk to me." We both chuckled.

Bella held up a hand to me letting me know to stop. She switched the pen to her left hand and began writing.

_No hand straining. If my right hand gets tired, I'll just switch to my left. I'm ambidextrous._

_It'll take a while to communicate fluently with sign. You won't be able to talk to me through that right away, but I can teach you some basics._

_And yes, I must pay you back some other way. I won't feel right, otherwise._

Holy shit! My Bella was ambidextrous. That was a hidden talent and another amazing quality that I just found out and loved about her. I wonder what other hidden talents she had that I could find out about. She had said that she was full of surprises.


	5. Part 5

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**I know, I know I was suppose to give this to you guys on Friday! What I didn't count on was 4 sick kids getting afflicted with a stomach bug—we were puking central here for a while there. I just was too immersed in vomit to be able to have updated. You can forgive me for that, right?

And, this is a late comer because c'mon it's Halloween. My mother arrived this morning and I've got 5 kidlets—their Halloween celebrating came first.

So, in short, 2 consecutive parts being updated today as penance.

**THANKS TO THOSE THAT HAVE REVIEWED THUS FAR**

**YOU'VE MADE MY DAY!**

**LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE**

* * *

><p><strong>*~Wildflower~*<strong>

**Part 5**

"You're full of surprises. I like that in a girl. Something tells me that you'd keep me on my toes," I began to tell her. "You know what else is surprising? I'm wondering how you're going to be able to finish the rest of all that food. I'm stuffed."

Who knew that McDonald's fast food could be so filling? I got up off the bench and threw the remaining remnants of my meal away in a nearby trash receptacle.

Bella didn't answer me. She just concentrated on eating her french fries, but she smiled at me. It was kind of a wicked grin, actually. It made me wonder what she was up to.

Wanting to stretch my legs, I leaned against the lamp post watching and waiting for Bella to finish her meal. Bella polished off the fries, before placing all her trash in one of the empty bags, balling it up, and chucking it into the trashcan. There were still two bags full of food left. I thought she was about to start in on one when she actually neatly folded up the tops of the bags and placed them aside.

"What's the matter? No longer hungry? Were your eyes bigger than your stomach?" I began to ask in a teasing manner.

Bella took up her notepad and began to pen her words. I wondered if I somehow offended her this time with my teasing.

_If you must know, I never planned to eat all this food._

_I had my fill and it was delicious. Thanks._

_I may be hungry, but I'm not a glutton._

_I'd bloat up to be as a big as a house if I tried to stuff all this food in me._

_How could you ever think that I could eat all this?_

_Don't even deny it. I know that is what you must've thought._

_Admittedly, it was funny to let you think that, though._

As I read, my eyes grew wide. She tricked me?

"So what? You're going to let all that perfectly good food, albeit probably cold now, go to waste? Just to trick me? That doesn't sound like the actions of a homeless girl who's known what it's like to be hungry."

She rolled her eyes at me and began to write furiously some more. I wondered what she was writing now. I tried to take a peek at her words, but she turned around to hide what she was writing from me, so I wasn't able to see.

_Silly, silly Edward. _

_After knowing me all this time, you'd think I'd do that just to play a prank?_

_Don't be ridiculous. I'm not that kind of person. If you can't already tell._

_I thought I might share my good fortune with some friends that might be at the shelter tonight._

_I'm sure they'd enjoy food like this._

_I know I was taking advantage of your kindness, but I didn't know if you'd allow me to get extra if you knew my motives offhand. I just thought I'd bring some light into some people's lives that are normally shrouded in darkness._

_I planned to tell you. Really, I did...after I ate. I'm sorry I misled you. _

_I do promise to pay you back in return for your kindness, like I've always said. I even know exactly how much I owe you. I paid attention to the prices._

She thought that I'd deny her getting extra food for her fellow homeless? Now who was the silly one? Actually, that would've been the old me. The old me didn't have a charitable bone in his body. This new me that Bella brought out admired her for being so generous to others and didn't mind at all paying for her generosity.

"Whew," I dramatically exhaled as if in relief. "I really didn't think you could eat all that. As tiny as you are, I figured it would've been impossible. However, I did want to see you try. I thought maybe you had some sort of eating disorder. I just didn't want to say anything," I said with as straight a face as I could muster.

She gave me an incredulous look. She started to pen something, but she stopped as soon as I interjected with laughter.

"I'm just kidding, Bella. I know you don't have an eating disorder. You have none of the signs, even if I'd known you all of a few hours. Believe me, I know about that. I used to have a girlfriend that had...well, never mind. You owe me nothing for dinner. It's my treat. So wipe that thought out of your mind now. I can't accept any money from you. That would be ridiculous. I really admire the fact that you want to share with some of your homeless friends. I'm sure they'd appreciate it very much. I can't believe that you were afraid to tell me that you wanted to get extra food for your friends. I wouldn't have denied you, sweet girl." Then I ran the back of my hand down her cheek, for one because I missed the connection I felt when I touched her, and it had already been a while since we last touched, secondly, because I wanted her to believe that last sentence of mine wholeheartedly.

It was a sign of affection I wasn't used to giving. For Bella, however, things like that just came easily and naturally. She smiled and then started writing once again.

_Speaking of the shelter...I really need to get back._

_There's a curfew. _

_I don't want to be locked out, as well as miss my chance to distribute the rest of this food._

_Are you ready to go?_

I nodded and reached for her hand. She happily took mine and I grabbed the remaining food with my spare hand. I led her back to the car and we were both smiling, bordering on giddy, as we strolled along. We made it back inside just as the rain started to fall again. I had to give thanks to Mother Nature for giving us that little reprieve from the showers, so that Bella and I could have our lovely moonlight picnic.

As I drove her to the shelter, I wracked my brain as to how I'd broach the topic of her coming home with me. I really didn't want to end up leaving her at this shelter.

In fact, I didn't think that Bella should be homeless anymore, because if she agreed, she could have a home with me. Or if it was too much, too soon, I could set her up with her own place, even find her a job, maybe help her to continue her education-anything she needed or wanted I could give or help her with. If it was the last thing I would do, Bella would be saying goodbye to this shelter, to her homeless life for good.

Yes, I would give her all that, help her to attain anything, give her everything, as long as I could have her remain in my life, somehow. Honestly, I would prefer it if she'd just stay with me. Even if I were to help her get her own home, she'd still need to stay with me until everything gets all settled for her new place. Why bother with the hassles of moving?

However, first things first, the end goal for tonight was to get Bella to come home with me. I made up my mind that I wasn't going home without her.

XXXXX

The rain was pouring down hard by the time we arrived at the shelter. I pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. Bella looked at me, confused. I guess she was ready for me to just drop her off curbside in front of the entrance, indicative of why she already had her seatbelt undone and her fingers gripped the door handle. She flipped the page of her notepad and wrote me a new note.

_I don't understand. Why are you parking? _

_You could've just dropped me off at the entrance._

"First of all, it's raining like crazy outside. What kind of a proper gentleman would I be if I just dropped you off at the entrance when it's like that outside? Even if it's just a few steps from the curb to get inside, you'd be completely soaked by the time you got to the door. I don't want to be responsible for you catching cold, or worse yet, pneumonia. Secondly, there is some unfinished business we have to discuss. I figured we can wait the rain out and talk a little more if that's all right with you. I don't think you'll miss the curfew since you're already here."

She nodded her head and scribbled on her notepad. I would have to buy her a few more of those at the rate we were going.

_Well, thank you for thinking of my well-being. I wasn't really in the mood to get soaked. I have a lot to thank you for tonight._

_Since it's raining this hard, they'll probably extend the curfew, to give a few more people a chance to seek shelter if need be. They've always done that with inclement weather._

_I don't understand what you mean with that we have some unfinished business._

_Care to explain?_

"I hope you know that I'll always be looking out for your well-being from now on. You've truly made a friend in me, Bella," I paused, hoping she could gauge the gravity of my words. She nodded that she understood and I continued on, "As for the unfinished business, I believe we had talked briefly about you wanting to pay me back for all of my kindness. Then I had said...," I trailed off as Bella's hand went up to stop me.

Now, it was me that was a bit confused. Bella didn't let me finish what I had to say. She nodded like she knew where I was going with our talk, bit her lip, nodded again, then proceeded to lift up her t-shirt. My eyes grew wide as I saw a bit more of Bella's skin, and of course, my treacherous cock started to harden, and at first I didn't quite understand what was going on, but then it dawned on me where exactly she was going with this. My stomach suddenly knotted and it wasn't a good turn. As much as I was attracted to Bella and this would normally have been like a fantasy come true, I knew this situation was all wrong-she had misunderstood me. I didn't wait to see her take her shirt off fully. I immediately turned my head.

"Bella, what the hell are you doing?" I spatted. "Please keep your shirt on. I don't know why you'd think that was where I was going when I began earlier, but I assure you that was most certainly not what I was going to say, or even remotely near where I was headed with the conversation. Tap my shoulder to let me know when you're decent."

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned back to face Bella. She was indeed dressed again and I was relieved. She looked sheepish as she sat there wringing her fingers over and over again. Her blush colored her cheeks and she couldn't meet my eyes.

As I picked up her chin with my fingers to look at me, my face softened. I guess I couldn't blame her for thinking that I would demand sex from her as a form of repayment. It was probably the way of the world that she knew. It pained me to think that something like this has possibly happened to her before, or that she needed to sell her body or provide some sort of service in some way in order to be able to eat. She was such the picture of innocence and I hated to think that she had been tainted due to the conditions of her life. It didn't matter to me, though. I still felt the same way about her. I didn't think anything could change the way I felt, no matter how horrible it was. I felt even more protective of her now.

"Bella, I'm sorry that I spat at you. You just caught me off-guard. When I said unfinished business, that was not what I meant. I told you that you've found a friend in me tonight. Please believe that I would never take advantage of you like that. I'm even sorrier that I gave you that impression."

Bella looked like she wanted to die from embarrassment. She scribbled me out a note explaining herself.

_Oh, it's me that should be sorry, Edward. I totally misread your signals._

_I know that you said that you didn't want any repayment of your kindness, but I didn't think you meant it. _

_I figured you'd change your mind, so I was literally waiting for the other shoe to drop._

_Then you brought it up and I figured that the other shoe had dropped, and in my world, well, men really just want one thing from a woman. So, I was prepared to give it. _

_I'm not so naive not to know that it happens every day with women in my situation. _

_Lots of homeless women I've met in the shelter have told me stories. I know other young girls like me that have turned to prostitution or resorted to exchanging sexual favors with men in exchange for their next meal or to have a warm place to sleep at night._

_Why do you think those men were chasing me?_

_God, I should've known you'd be different._

_I'm really so sorry I made you uncomfortable._

"You don't have to apologize," I told Bella honestly. "I kind of figured that it was your understanding of the world. I'm pretty sure it does happen often with women in your situation. I'm also sure that there are plenty of guys out there who would take advantage. I'm not one of them, okay?" She stopped me again, so that I may read her new note.

_I know now that you're a decent guy, Edward._

_But, can I ask you something-why not?_

_I don't know many men who would turn down an offer such as I was giving._

_You don't want me?_

_I mean, I know I'm not anything special._

_But, I got a sense that you liked me_

_I didn't mind offering myself to you because I like you too._

"You got me all wrong, Bella. Believe me, I do want you. I've already told you how beautiful you are so many times tonight, and I don't just mean on the outside. Getting to know you has been wonderful and I enjoy spending my time with you and touching you. Obviously, I'm attracted to you. It's just that I can't. I simply can't take advantage of you like that. I promised that I'd take care of you. Like I said before, you're safe with me. I don't believe giving into my need to have you would exactly fall under you being safe with me."

_I see. Does it also have something to do with that woman who was yelling at you over the phone?_

_She's probably your girlfriend, right?_

_You're a faithful guy. I get it._

_It sounded like you were in trouble._

_It has been nagging in my mind this whole time. I hope it wasn't because of me._

"Who? Chelsea? That girl on the phone isn't my girlfriend. Chelsea is just a girl I was supposed to meet, and I ended up not meeting her. She was mad because of it. But you came along, and I'd rather spend my time with you. She's of no consequence. I really didn't feel like socializing with her in the first place. You're much better company anyways. You really shouldn't worry about her. My choice not to sleep with you has nothing to do with her at all. It has everything to do with you, though. I want you to believe that I'm one of the good guys out there. I really like you, Bella. I've felt a connection with you that I've never felt with any other woman before and for that alone, I don't want to do anything to destroy that."

It wasn't entirely a lie. Everything I said about Bella was the truth. Although, I did only tell Bella the bare minimum of what she needed to know about Chelsea.

Bella's expression was dubious, but I assumed after having mulled it over, she just chose to stop dwelling on it. She glanced up at me, catching me intensely gazing at her, and just like before whenever she felt embarrassed, her cheeks got heated and turned a rosy pink. I loved her blush; it was one of the cutest things about her.

It was my turn to address what was starting to nag on my mind. As much as I didn't want to hear the answer to my questions about her innocence and virtue, I had to know. It wouldn't change my impression of her at all. Like I said, it wouldn't matter to me if she had experience. I, myself, had a colored past, so I couldn't judge hers, especially considering the circumstances of her life. However, I at least had to know what I was getting into with her.

"Bella, can I ask you something? And would you answer me honestly, please?" I asked. She nodded for me to go ahead. "I don't know if I really want to hear the answer to this, but I have to know. Have men taken advantage of you before? Have you been put in a situation where you'd had to give yourself to someone? You're not out selling yourself, are you?"

Bella bit her lip again. I could tell she was nervous to answer me. I didn't know whether that was a good sign or not.

"Bella, we're friends. You can be honest with me. Actually, you don't have to tell me because it's your business, but I'd really like you to open up to me. I'm not going to judge you either way. I want you to know that it won't change anything for me. It's just for my peace of mind that I have to know. We'll still be friends even if you have. I understand that your situation may necessitate you having to do that."

She nodded her head "no" and I thought it meant that she wasn't going to answer me. If she didn't want to tell me then I wasn't going to push the issue, I would just have to accept not knowing; however, I knew it would plague me. The thought of some man using her like that was simply appalling and my heart clenched for her. Fate had dealt her such a bad hand in life. The thought of her living that way, having to sell herself just to make a few measly bucks in order to eat or find a better place to sleep for the night, made me even more determined to take her home with me. I vowed to change her life tonight.

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><p><strong>End<strong>**A/N:** BTW, a side note regarding my other fics, just in case you're reading them, too.

Some chapters still with beta, so giving her some time since it's a lot & she's a busy woman.

Last chapter I wrote of APB was kind of shit, IMO, and I didn't want to put out anything but my very best effort, so still reworking to be had. Probably be ready by Friday, instead. And, I do realize I'm already quite overdue in updating this one—sorry, just the way the cookie crumbles. I'm not satisfied with it, you guys won't be seeing it until I am.

I have a Halloween-themed/inspired O/S, but I've been too busy with Halloween for my kidlets, so it'll be lame of me, but I'll probably just have to post it tomorrow, or post-Halloween this week. It just wasn't flowing right for me, so I need to go back to look at it again; otherwise, it would've been ready by today/tonight. Yeah, I feel totally sucky about not posting it at the perfect time also.


	6. Part 6

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:** Here's Part 6! Enjoy!

Oh, hope everyone had a happy, safe, treat-filled Halloween!

**IN HONOR OF HALLOWEEN,**

**WHY NOT LEAVE ME A TREAT**

**AND REVIEW**

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><p><strong>*~Wildflower~*<strong>

**Part 6**

I was so lost within my own thoughts that I didn't notice that Bella had written something again. She waved her hand in front of me in order to gain my attention.

_No, Edward. I'm not a prostitute and have never traded any sexual favors for help. _

_I haven't done any of that. I have no interest either. It would be the easiest thing to do for a girl in my situation. But, I'm determined to stay away from that trap._

_No one has taken advantage of me, yet. Thank God._

_There have been bad people out there lurking, but I tend to think I have good instincts about people to know who and where to stay away from. Plus, as you can see, I'm a good runner._

_I've learned to survive on the streets. You kind of have to. I've managed to keep myself out of trouble. At least, until tonight._

_I don't see myself ever going that route._

_But, like I've said, I've heard the stories and I've seen girls' lives change._

_I know that with the junkies, it's become a popular resort._

_You know being mute does have its advantages. _

_Admittedly, I tried to get a job as a stripper once, but I couldn't get hired mostly because I couldn't talk. They said that the clientèle would want someone who could chat them up and well, obviously I couldn't, and I wasn't exactly the best dancer or had the skills to wait tables there, so they couldn't use me._

_If you ask me, it was the best thing that could've happened. I'm poor and desolate, but I wasn't that desperate._

_A prostitute told me once also that I wouldn't make a good one of those either because of my affliction. Something about men liked to hear a girl scream and make noises like they were doing something wonderful to them. But, I really wouldn't know about it all._

_I've never been with anyone before. In fact, I don't even have any experience in that department._

Well, Bella certainly explained herself and then some. I absorbed everything that she wrote and exhaled a huge sigh of relief finally knowing that her innocence was not yet tainted. I was grateful for that. She didn't need to be a part of that lifestyle.

After letting out a deep breath, I started talking once again, "Oh, you don't know what a huge relief it is for me to know that. I didn't want you to have experienced that hardship because of your situation. It wouldn't have been right," I paused to give her a reassuring smile. Then continued, "So, you're a virgin then?" Bella nodded her assent. "Well, why were you so willing to give yourself to me earlier when you thought that was what I wanted from you as payment for my kindness? That's not a light decision to make."

Bella first shrugged then she wrote more on her paper. I was highly anticipating her explanation. She showed it to me once she was done writing.

_When you first offered me your help, I wondered if wanting something sexually from me was your motive._

_I mean I thought that you were genuinely a very nice guy, but you still never know._

_It had always been in the back of my mind since I met you._

_I kept debating whether I would freely give myself if you showed that kind of interest in me._

_I felt our connection as well, and that's why I liked holding your hand... and touching you._

_I decided that if you ever asked, I would let you have me._

_You've told me about yourself, so I felt that I knew you somewhat._

_There could be worse guys I could give my virtue to._

_It didn't seem like it would be such a big deal._

_You're a decent guy. You seem kind and someone who would take care of me during the moment. I feel comfortable with you. So, it didn't seem like such a revolting idea._

_Actually, it kind of was a nice idea._

_Losing my virginity was bound to happen sooner or later. I'd rather it be with someone I trust, like you._

_Believe me, I don't plan to die a virgin. Being out on the streets, well, anything could happen to me tomorrow, so it seemed like as good a time as any. I'd like to have that experience at least once in my life._

_I can't say that I wasn't a bit disappointed that you turned me down. I also felt rejected._

_But, I understand where you're coming from._

_You really have been too good to me._

"Oh my dear, sweet girl. Please don't feel bad that I rejected you. If you only knew how hard it was to turn you down. It wasn't a decision I took lightly. Honestly, I've been lusting after you all night." Bella blushed once I admitted that. I continued, trying not to dwell on exactly how much I did want her, "So, I'm not as decent of a guy as you think. You wanting to give yourself to me is like a fantasy come true, and the fact that you're a virgin, untouched by any other man, makes it even better; however, it's completely under the wrong circumstances. What kind of friend would I be if I gave in? I'm honored that you trusted me enough to want to give your virtue to me, but believe me, Bella, there are better guys than me for you to do something intimate with."

Damn, I couldn't believe that I was actually saying such things. It sounded strange to my own ears. But, it was the absolute truth. Before Bella, I had never been so respectful of a girl and her virtues. I wasn't one to turn a girl down. I took what I wanted and that was all that mattered; however, for Bella, I was different. I wanted to live up to her image of me being a decent gentleman, even though I really wasn't. I could change myself for her, though.

If Bella came home with me, it would not only change her life, but change mine as well. I liked that prospect more and more.

Bella kept nodding her head from side to side, saying "no" over and over. I didn't quite understand what she was responding to. I read another one of her notes.

_Well, thank you for the ego boost, Edward._

_I guess I can say that I am attractive enough, to you at least, and not a complete wallflower._

"Bella, you're naturally gorgeous. I don't know any man who would disagree with me," I confirmed to her once more.

_And thank you for being such an upstanding gentleman. It was nice of you to be solely thinking of me when you turned down my offer of myself to you._

_I guess there wouldn't be a lot of men like you that wouldn't take advantage._

_You're too hard on yourself. I've not met many men quite as nice, kind, and decent as you. _

_So, I think you're wrong when you say that there would be better guys than you for me to be intimate with._

"Really, Bella. I'm not exactly as upstanding as you think. What if I told you that I'm the bad guy?"

_You, a bad guy? I can't believe that._

"It's true, Bella. I've got a past... with women. There's a lot of skeletons in my closet on that regard. To be honest, I'm terrible at relationships. See that girl I blew off on the phone, that's how I normally am with girls."

_Why are you telling me this?_

"I'm telling you because I don't want you to have any false illusions about me and also because I really like you Bella. That's why I'm being honest with you. There are better men out there who deserve you and the gift of your virtue more than I. I'd like for you to keep that in mind."

_Very funny, Edward. Okay, if you say so._

_Where exactly am I supposed to meet these men? _

_My situation doesn't really allow for a good social life._

_I still think you are too hard on yourself. You may have had a past. Doesn't everyone?_

_And maybe you've treated girlfriends badly in your past, but I've seen nothing but you being kind and decent to me. That's what I know of you and I'm going to go with that._

_Nothing changes how I feel about you._

_I still think you're one amazing person._

"You're the amazing one, Bella. Really...truly. The way you've survived out on the streets with your affliction. You've got smarts and a good head on your shoulders. You've stayed away from the normal trappings of your lot in life and kept your virtue in tact. I'm in awe of you. And you're right, I'm different with you. You've certainly changed me in the short time we've known each other. Just being with you makes me act and think differently. I'm certainly not the gentleman that you've described, but being with you makes me want to be. If you like who I am with you, then that's who I want to be all the time."

_Well, score one for me. I guess we've both helped out one another._

_You know, if the person you are with me is who you want to be...well, that's easy to accomplish. _

_Just be that guy all the time._

"No, I think I can only be that way with you. You've been the only girl that I've liked enough. Bella, I'd really like to spend more time with you, if I could."

_Awww...I really like you too, Edward. _

_I wish there was a way we could spend more time together._

"Actually, that was the unfinished business I was trying to discuss with you earlier. Now, I don't expect any payment in return from you. I've already told you that dozens of times. However, I said I wanted to learn how to sign, so we could better communicate. You said that you could teach me. I want to take you up on that offer. If you give me lessons, then we can spend more time together," I eagerly said.

_I'd like that._

Bella scribbled out on her notepad that was fast being depleted. She was down to one paper left.

Lost in our conversation, we hadn't noticed that the rain had stopped. We also didn't notice how much time had passed since I initially parked. Suddenly, Bella glanced at the dashboard clock and made to get out of the car.

I held her back. "Wait. You're going? What about my signing lessons? There's still things I'd like us to talk about. "

She started to write quickly, then she tore off the piece of paper and handed it to me to read. She then took her McDonald's bags and hurriedly left the car. She dashed off to the front of the shelter then disappeared inside before I could even finish reading her note.

_I need to go. Shelter curfew, remember._

_You know it doesn't really matter to me if I get to sleep there tonight._

_But, it's just that my stuff is already inside._

_I need to make it in to get my stuff out._

_So, I might as well stay._

_As for your signing lessons, well, I know you have work and you're probably very busy._

_We don't need to work out a schedule._

_You can just find me here at the shelter whenever you have time._

_And if I'm not here, just ask around, someone will know where you can find me or when I'll be back._

_That goes for any time you'd like to just see me as well._

I folded her last note and stuck it in my pocket. Of course, I followed her. Like I said, I wasn't going home without her tonight.


	7. Part 7

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:** Okay, this Part 7 is delayed! I should've posted this yesterday. But, please forgive me, for being a fan girl

As you may or may not know, the BD promos have begun and it's an overwhelming time with information overload—love it. I've immersed myself deep into it, because, yes, I am a fan girl I love to look at everything and as you know, that takes time. What also takes time is squeeing with friends about our mutual love for all things the saga and especially Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. So, sorry, I've been a fan girl first and foremost these past couple of days instead of having the fic writer hat on. I've still got tons of interviews, appearances, and pictures to go through, but I'm taking the time out to do this much needed update on an odd day, because I love you readers and felt bad having to make you all wait just to continue to satisfy my inner fan girl

Just three more parts of this extended O/S to go, so we'll be at an even 10. Then the outtakes/futuretakes will begin.

**KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING**

**THEY'VE BEEN LOVELY**

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><p><strong>*~Wildflower~*<strong>

**Part 7**

The building from the outside looked normal enough. Architecturally, it was a beautiful building with all its brickwork. Apparently, it had been an old, abandoned church that got converted into this homeless shelter. That was on the plaque I read. For a shelter, it didn't seem to be run down and looked to be well-maintained apart from normal wear and tear from the weather on such an old building. I guess I had preconceived notions as to what a homeless shelter was supposed to look like.

As I walked up the stairs, there were people right outside the big, heavy doors. I guess since it was no longer raining, they were free to come outside and congregate. They talked, smoked, drank, and one made a drug deal. Drug deal? I pretended I didn't see that. I guess all types stayed here and they took in anybody who needed the aid.

I noticed that these people congregated outside were all in various stages of dishevelment. One older man reeked of alcohol and the man he was talking to simply reeked and was badly in need of a bath. I pretended not to notice their stenches.

Some were the types that you could tell were probably the ones that you saw on the street corner with their signs, begging for a handout. There were others that you'd never figured were homeless. I guess they were the ones who had gotten down on their luck.

I'd never once stopped before to give any of those people any help whatsoever, not even a few extra dimes that I might've had in the car, or even thought of giving them the extra food I had which usually ended up in the garbage anyways. After meeting Bella, I now had a new way of thinking. Their signs usually said "anything would help" or "every little bit helps" and I'm beginning to understand that. Whether they used my help for the better or not, at least I did my duty and helped. You just never knew where that bit of help could lead.

Maybe Bella was kept alive and well by other's generous handouts. I would always be grateful for those kind souls who helped her.

Those congregated outside eyed me warily as they saw me enter the doors to the shelter. I'm sure they knew that I wasn't one of them. They were probably wondering what the hell I was doing there.

I walked inside wary of my surroundings. I wanted to find Bella quickly and get her out of here. Not that the place was a bad place to stay. I'm sure it beat staying in some of those roach motels that rented by the hour. It was probably cleaner than those motels. There was still a noticeable stench in the air, though. Staying here was definitely better than sleeping outside under bridges, by the side of the road, or in some alleyway.

I wondered where Bella went when she didn't stay at this shelter. The thought of her huddled under some ratty, old blanket by a dumpster in the alley made me shudder. The thought of her exposed like that, vulnerable to the elements and to evil people who would prey on her made me shudder worse. It was exactly images like those that made me compelled to change Bella's life forever.

This shelter was pretty large. Of course, I'd never been in a homeless shelter before, so I really had no means for comparison, but the place could house a huge number of people, and with the rainy weather of late, it seemed a lot of the homeless did take shelter here. I wandered about looking for Bella amongst the masses milling about in the halls, but I hadn't seen her yet.

Was there a back entrance? Could she have slipped out the back and I not know about it?

I didn't think she would. Bella seemed set on staying the night here in the shelter. I don't think she even thought to ask to crash with me, if even for just a night, or that it even crossed her mind that I might ask her to stay with me.

Each way I went, the people in the shelter looked at me suspiciously. I did my best to look friendly. Not one of the people approached me, I didn't know whether to feel relieved or irritated by that. I also didn't think to ask any one of them if they knew Bella and where I would be able to find her.

I made my way into a large, open area, roughly the size of high school gymnasium. It was filled with cots. Just rows and rows of cots, with little plastic drawers beside them, I suppose to act as a nightstand and a place where people can put some of their meager belongings in. Off to one side, I noticed a few curtained off areas between rows of beds and bunks. I wondered who were the luckier ones to get to sleep in those instead of the cots.

I scanned the area for a sign of Bella, but still couldn't see her from where I was standing. There were a lot of people in the room and my Bella was a tiny, little thing, so it wasn't any wonder that she was kind of lost in the crowd. I was just about to go in and search for Bella more thoroughly when a voice stopped me.

"Now let me guess. You must be the McDonald's man," she said from behind me. "Some of the occupants were whispering that they'd seen someone like you walking around in here. Maybe there's something I could better help you with."

I turned around to find myself facing a nun, a nun in complete uniform with the habit and everything. Now, normally, I'm a fairly confident man, unafraid to stand my ground against anyone, apart from a group of unsavory men that is; however, there was just something about nuns that made me automatically cower. It must've been the Catholic upbringing that I abandoned long ago.

"Hello," I said, trying not to make my voice squeak too much. "I'm Edward. Edward Cullen. Um...the McDonald's man? I'm sorry. I don't follow."

"Hello, Mr. Cullen. I'm Sister Mary Francis. Welcome to the shelter. Yes, you're now known as the McDonald's man around here. I'm assuming that you were the kind gentleman that helped Bella acquire all that extra McDonald's food and allowed her to spread a bit of joy tonight amongst some of our occupants."

I couldn't help but smirk just a little. Bella had already told someone about me, or at least they know about me because she was sharing her food around. It also occurred to me that Bella seemed to be well-known in this shelter. She must be a frequent occupant.

"Uh, yes, I guess that's me. I must stick out like a sore thumb around here," I responded.

"You have no idea," Sister Mary Francis said as she giggled. "We don't normally get visitors like you around here. I assumed, though, that it would only be a matter of time before you might make an appearance, inquiring about Bella."

"So, you know my...," I paused realizing my mistake. "Um, you know Bella then?"

"Of course, we sisters that run this shelter make it a point to try and get to know our most frequent occupants. We try to do everything in our power to keep tabs on the poor folks that come here and do our best to help them out as much as we are able. I've actually known Bella for quite a while. She's been seeking shelter here for a long time now, to the point that we consider her one of our oldest regulars and she's even able to help us out with our newest occupants."

Again I had to smirk. Helping out the newer occupants in the shelter definitely sounded like something Bella would do.

"Well, do you know where she is then? I haven't been able to find her and there are some things we never got to finish talking about."

"I figured as much, or you wouldn't be in here looking for her," the good Sister told me simply. "I'm sure she's about. But before I help you to find her, may I ask you a few things?"

Now, that was something I didn't expect-an interrogation. I'm sure, though, that it was only because she cared about Bella's welfare. I nodded for her to go ahead and ask her questions.

Sister Mary Francis put a finger to her chin, probably thinking about where she should start. "Hmm...let me preface my questions by saying I know who you are Mr. Cullen. Your family is very well-known in this city and in my community particularly. Your father and mother have not only given generously to various charities, but have also donated much of their time in service."

"It's not the first time I've been recognized because of who my parents are," I interjected. "I don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"Even though I know who you are Mr. Cullen, I assure you that most of the occupants in this shelter do not. I imagine they aren't running in the same circles as you or your family."

"Okay, I get that. And...," I said irritatedly. My patience was running thin with the good sister. The whole time we'd been talking I was still in search of Bella and still hadn't spotted her.

"How do you know Bella?"

I think I knew what the good sister was getting at. "Now, don't get any ideas, Sister. I literally ran into Bella earlier this evening."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I was in downtown, LoDo, to be more exact and was walking down one of the alleyways to get to a restaurant I was heading to when Bella and I collided. She was running from the opposite direction. I guess we both weren't looking where we were going. She was running from a group of unsavory men who were chasing her. I'm fairly certain some harm would've come to her if I hadn't run into her then. I helped her to get away."

"I take it you saved her then. Well, praise be the Lord that someone was looking after her and put you in her path. Every time Bella is out and about, my fellow sisters and I worry about her tremendously. It isn't that we aren't confident in her survival abilities, she's done well for herself thus far; however, there's a lot of people out there that would take advantage of her, especially since she has her affliction. I'm glad that a nice, kind, young man like you was able to help her out of a bind."

I snorted at the nice, kind, young man comment. She's probably only gotten that impression of me from my family name. Before I'd met Bella, I don't think I could've ever really been described as nice and kind. I'm sure my parents would agree. I tended to be more of a disappointment. I knew it was why my father worked me so hard.

"So, do you know Bella well?" I inquired. I figured if the sister knew Bella well enough, she may be able to fill in some of the blanks in Bella's life story for me and then I'd know how better to help her, especially with getting her voice back.

"Well, as well as we can get to know the occupants who stay here. As you can imagine, they come and go. We try to do our best to keep track of them; however, it's not always in our capabilities. We can also only help so much," Sister Mary Francis said forlornly.

"Okay, what can you tell me about Bella and her affliction?"

"When you spent time with her, did you not get to know her?" Sister asked back. "I know she's a mute, but I'm sure you'd found some way to communicate."

"I did. Well, as much as I could under the circumstances. There's still a lot of blanks to fill. We'd just met, so I don't think she was comfortable opening up to me and telling me her whole life story yet. But, she's intrigued me and I'd like to find out more about her. It's why I came after her. I know I'm the one who's supposed to be answering your questions, but I'd like it if you could answer a few of mine about her."

"All right. I can postpone my questions for now. I will say that I'll tell you as much as I am able. But, really, it's Bella's story to tell."

"Okay, could you tell me how long Bella has been homeless? Do you know long she has been living in squalor?"

"We've known Bella at this shelter for at least a year. At least, that's how long she's been coming to the shelter. You can understand that with her affliction, my sisters and I have been particularly interested in her. So, we try to pay close tabs on her. Her time here comes and goes. There have been stretches when she's been gone and we worry about her, but somehow by the grace of God she's always returned to us. I don't know where she goes or what she does when she's gone from here. I know sometimes she takes her meals at our soup kitchen a couple of blocks from here, but other than that, her whereabouts are as much a mystery. However, she's always returned fine and told us that nothing bad has happened to her."

"You're inclined to believe her?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yes. Bella has been nothing but honest with us. Besides, she doesn't show any signs of trauma, apart from whatever caused her to lose her voice."

"Speaking of which, do you know anything about that?"

"No, not really. I only know that it happened when she was still a young child; however, she doesn't remember too much of it. From what she's told us, she woke up one day to find her parents gone, she was put in an orphanage, and lost her ability to speak."

"Wait...wait, Bella's an orphan? But, how? Wouldn't she have ended up in a good foster home, have a life, not end up this way now?"

"When Bella first came into our shelter, well, you can imagine we did what we could to find out about her and what led her to her situation. We do that for all the young girls and boys that pass through here. We do our best to help these kids particularly, to try and take them out of their current homeless situation, so they don't end up in worse circumstances. A good many of them are runaways, transients, or victims of untold horrors who ended up on the streets. We counsel these young girls and boys, and if they have families, we try to reunite them, or at least we try our best to help them in other ways, so that they no longer find themselves living out on the streets. We checked into Bella's past based on what she willingly told us when she first turned up here. In fact, she was actually one of our easiest teens to talk to and befriend; it was a good thing all the sisters in our order knew how to sign. She was open and put her trust in us; however, she couldn't give us much to go on."

I interrupted, "Well, what did you learn?"

Sister Mary Francis smirked. "Patience is a virtue, Mr. Cullen. However, I do think that Bella should be telling you the rest of her story. We don't know all of it ourselves anyways. I will tell you this. She was in an orphanage in Seattle from the time she was ten years old. It's around the time she stopped speaking. I suppose she just grew out of the system and she was emancipated by the state when she was sixteen years old. It doesn't seem to me that she was ever up for adoption or spent time in any foster homes. From the records that we were able to recover, she lived at the orphanage from age ten to sixteen. Now, how she came to Colorado and end up homeless is maybe information that you could extract from her."

"Well, I would if I could ever find her to talk to her. Maybe you could help me out with that, too."

"Oh, I will. If first you tell me what your interest is with her," Sister Mary Francis retorted.

"I see. We're back to your questions again."

"Reciprocation, Mr. Cullen. I've given you some information on our fair Bella. Now, I have to make sure that your intentions are honorable."

"Let me ask you this first. You said that your order helps those like Bella to get out of their homeless situation, so why haven't you and your order helped her? Why has she been out on the streets for this long?"

"Like I said, Mr. Cullen, we can only do so much. We have many, many needy people that pass through the doors of this shelter on a daily basis. We can't provide them all the help that they need. One of the primary factors in getting people the help that they need is whether or not the person we intend to help wants the help in the first place. Bella is a very selfless young woman. She places others above her own needs. She's refused us repeatedly to intervene, finding instead what she deems better use of our services. She has turned us down as recently as yesterday, asking us to focus our efforts on the Dooley family instead. I'd have to agree with her, however, on this regard. The Dooley family is in dire need of our intervention more than Bella at the moment."

"It's a good thing I found her then, Sister. You asked me about my interest in her and my intentions earlier. Well, as you've already gathered, Bella and I spent some time together tonight. I'd like to think that we've become friends and have bonded. I find her to be an amazing young woman."

Sister Mary Francis interjected, "Bella is a survivor for certain."

"She's inspired me. I want to help her. I want to take her out of this harsh life. She won't have to want or need for anything ever again. You know I have the means to."

"So that is what you eagerly want to discuss with her, Mr. Cullen?" Sister asked.

"Yes. I just need to find her. But, first off, can I ask that you please just call me Edward? I'm only ever Mr. Cullen in the office and Mr. Cullen is better saved for my father." Sister Mary Francis nodded and I continued, "You seem to know right where she is, Sister Mary Francis. Where can I find her? I want to take her away from all of this...tonight."

Sister Mary Francis gasped slightly before she composed herself enough to speak, "Well, no one can ever accuse any of the Cullen's of hesitating when they see something that they want to accomplish. I gather it is why your family has been so successful and the schools are flourishing. I see that the same trait can be attributed to you. However, forgive me for saying so Edward, but your reputation precedes you. I know that you've made friends with Bella and your heart goes out to her. Your interest in her is all very heartwarming. I'm glad you want to help and quickly at that. But, what happens to her when your interest in her has waned, when you've moved on to another pet project, or have found another girl that has caught your eye."

I tried to interrupt and counter her implication, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. I let the nun say her peace.

Sister Mary Francis continued on, "We've come to think of Bella as one of our own around here Edward. We absolutely refuse to allow her to get hurt. So, while my order and I would appreciate the assistance with Bella, we'd rather not if somewhere down the line, you'll just leave her floundering and possibly lead her back into this harsh life, as you call it. If that would be the case, then I think she'll be fine trying to get back on her feet on her own. Like I said, she's a survivor. However, I doubt her ability to survive you hurting her and dropping her like she was yesterday's news. As you may already gather, she's still got a lot of innocence still left within her. It's been a blessing that her life's hardships haven't yet changed her from the sweet girl that she is. It would be against my duty if I allow her to leave with you and you end up destroying that sweet girl. Of course, Bella would need to agree to receive your help. I assure you, she holds us sisters' opinion in high regard."

All that Sister Mary Francis said got me riled up. I heatedly retorted back, "Bella isn't just going to be a pet project of mine. I resent the fact that you would even think that. With all due respect Sister, despite what you think, you don't know me. Who you are describing may have been who I was before, but it's not who I am anymore."

"Is that so?" Sister Mary Francis said in response.

"Literally running into Bella changed everything for me. She changed me. I know it sounds far-fetched, but it's the truth. I feel it. I just want a chance to give back to her now. Like I said, I want to help her, change her life for the better, and I will see it through. Granted I'm no fortune teller, but I don't believe my interest in her will ever wane. Contrary to what you may believe, she's not just another pretty girl to me. She's captivated me and part of what captivated me about her is her innocence. I wouldn't want her to lose that and she certainly won't in my care. I assure you that I don't plan to hurt her.. ever."

"Oh I see. You've developed feelings for Bella. Already, huh? Those are strong words you just spouted, Mr. Cull..., uh, Edward."

"I meant all I've said," I assured the sister.

"I don't doubt that you do, especially with all that passion in your voice when you said it. I'm gathering you have a plan to change Bella's life for the better," she said in a rather patronizing tone, which again I resented.

"I do," I told her simply.

"You do know that she has special needs. And, it won't be easy transitioning her when this kind of life is all she's known for a time now. What about communicating with her. I assume you don't know anything about sign language."

"It's true, I don't know how to sign. But, until she finishes teaching me, we'll manage. We communicated just fine tonight."

"So, you're willing to learn?" Sister interjected with her question.

"Yes, of course. I kind of have to. At least, until she gets her voice back."

"Edward, you don't really think that she can acquire her ability to speak again?"

"I do."

"But, Edward...," Sister Mary Francis tried to interject again. I wouldn't allow her to.

"Sister, with all due respect, I believe she can regain her ability to speak again. She just needs time, coaxing, and the right help. I think she would've been talking sooner if she had received the right help in the first place. Amongst other things, I plan to provide that too. I know she can do it eventually. I believe in her. It may be a painstakingly long process, but I know one day we'll be able to hear Bella's voice again."

"You're very sure of yourself, aren't you Edward?"

"Well, I am a Cullen. I guess the self-confidence runs in the family. I assure you that I'm nothing but committed to Bella, changing her life, and her recovery from her affliction."

I don't know why exactly I was explaining myself to this sister, as if I needed her approval to take Bella out of this life. Something inside told me though, that Bella valued her opinion and if I was going to convince Bella to leave with me tonight, Sister Mary Francis may be of help.

"You might just be the answer to all my sisters' prayers with regards to Bella. We'd been praying for some sort of life changer for her. As you can imagine, we've felt so helpless, only being able to do so much for someone such as her."

"I probably would never admit to this again, Sister, but I think God brought Bella and I together tonight for a reason."

"You might be right. Well, I'm glad, Edward. You might be exactly who she needs."

"I hope so. At least, I'd like to think so. I've never felt such a strong connection to anyone before."

"I have to admit that you weren't really what we had in mind when my sisters and I prayed for some divine intervention on Bella's behalf. However, God does work in mysterious ways."

"I'll have to take your word for it," I said playfully.

"I believe you have some monumental things to discuss with Bella now. Come with me. She's probably still in the Dooley's room. I know she went over to share some of the food you generously gave her with their children."

No wonder why I hadn't been able to spot Bella. She was in a separate room, the Dooley's room. Whatever that meant? I decided to ask as I followed Sister Mary Francis through the crowd to the very back of the open area.

"Uh, Sister, the Dooley's room? It hasn't been the first time that I heard you mention that name."

"Yes, the Dooley family. Bella has befriended them. They're a family of seven that has come to our shelter for aid. A couple with five children, and another one on the way. Usually, couples or families that come to seek shelter here are housed in the cordoned-off areas of the main sleeping floor. You know, with the curtains. It provides them a chance to stay together and some air of privacy. With their family being so big, it wasn't adequate accommodation, so we converted an old storage room quickly. It's not the best place to be living, but it's better than being out on the streets with those kids. Theirs is a very sad story."

Sister Mary Francis proceeded to tell me their tale as we moved about the open area, "The father lost his job when the factory he worked at moved out of Colorado and transferred the jobs oversees. He has no other skills but the assembly skills he acquired with that job. He hasn't been able to find a new one. They were a single income home with the mother watching their plentiful kids. Their unemployment income and their reserved savings only lasted for so long, then the bills piled up, and they couldn't pay them. They lost their home. They started living in motels and the father was taking menial jobs here and there that never lasted. Soon, it even got too expensive to live out of motels. They resorted to their car, but their car just got repossessed and now they're with us. The storage room isn't much, but it's better than they've been used to. It's certainly better than raising that family out on the streets. They don't have any family or anyone else they could've turned to for help. We've been doing everything we can, even enrolling the kids in a nearby school, just so they could continue their education. But, you know the economic times are tough, and we're simply not able to do enough to get them out of this situation. It isn't right for a family to live this way, especially with young children and another baby on the way. They break everyone's heart. Oh goodness me. I wonder if I should've even told you that much about the Dooley's."

"It's all right, Sister. I won't say that you told me anything about them. I won't get you into trouble. Thank you, though, for giving me a little insight into Bella's friends."

"You're welcome. Thank you for not letting my big mouth get me in trouble," the good sister said then giggled. "Here we are." We made it to the door of the room and the sister knocked.

Sister Mary Francis asked if Bella was still inside and she was. From the sound of things, Bella was having a fun time playing with the Dooley children. They allowed me inside and for just a moment and I hesitated on whether I should be talking to Bella about leaving this life.

She had made friends and this life was all she knew. I was literally gonna uproot her. I wondered if she would even be open to that at all.

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><p><strong>End<strong>**A/N:** Just a side-note, if you read any of my other WIP's or have them on alert...I should be able to update APB by the end of today as well. That one is so overdue also.

And, still waiting on my beta for the other updates I planned. She's busy too, but maybe it's time to poke and prod gently.


	8. Part 8

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**Hello loyal and patient readers! I have a gift, IMO, at least. I'll be posting all of the last three parts of this story now. So, consider it complete in a way. I'll mark it complete for technical purposes, but by no means is this story really complete-so don't say good-bye to it just yet. I believe there's some more story to tell and that maybe you readers might also want a little more of this story told. So, it's going to be complete, but we'll now move on to the outtakes/futuretakes.

Hope you guys enjoys the rest of this extended O/S and it's somewhat ending. Let's all look forward to the coming side-shots for this story and continue on this journey of love that this Edward and Bella goes through.

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR**

**WONDERFUL AND KIND REVIEWS**

**YOU READERS MAKE MY HEART SOAR!**

* * *

><p><strong>*~Wildflower~*<strong>

**Part 8**

Bella blushed when she saw it was me that was her visitor and all hesitation inside me left. I couldn't imagine not seeing that blush every day.

She grabbed herself her little notebook and wrote me out a message. Sister Mary Francis left to give us some privacy. Of course, the Dooley's were still in the room, but the room was theirs after all. I could see Mr. and Mrs. Dooley looking at us with a strange look in their eyes and smirks on their mouths. I wondered what that was about.

_Edward, what are you doing here?_

_You can't expect your lessons to start already._

_Didn't I just leave you not too long ago?_

"That's just it, Bella. You left too quickly. I still wanted to talk to you about some things," I paused and looked around. All of the Dooley family's eyes were on us, including their little baby. I ran a hand around the collar of my shirt. I felt uncomfortable. "Is there some place we can talk more privately?" I whispered to her.

Just then, one of the Dooley's little girls came up to Bella and tugged at her leg. She couldn't have been more than five years old. She giggled and asked to whisper into Bella's ear what she wanted to say. Bella bent down to her level and listened. The little girl whispered something too softly for my ears, but Bella heard. She nodded and then giggled again together as they both eyed me. That got me curious. Were they talking about me?

Mr. and Mrs. Dooley called their daughter to them. She went and they talked softly amongst themselves for a moment, before they all looked at me again and fucking giggled once more.

What the hell? I was starting to get self-conscious. I'm sure the Dooley's knew it too.

"Bella, it's getting late. We should really get the kids to bed. You should really go and talk to your young man in private," Mrs. Dooley called out. The kids groaned. Mrs. Dooley said, "Come on kids. Let Bella talk with her friend. She's spent enough time with us tonight. Say goodnight."

One by one the kids came up and said their goodnights. They gave Bella hugs and Bella in turn kissed their foreheads. Admittedly, I was a bit envious of the children. Bella then gave both Mr. and Mrs. Dooley a hug and they said goodnight.

We watched as the kids all clamored onto a bunk. The girls were on the bottom and the boys climbed up on top. Mrs. Dooley put her baby down in the middle of the tiny mattress she shared and both she and Mr. Dooley started getting situated. Bella grabbed my hand then and walked us out of their room. The light turned off shortly after we left.

My heart went out to that family. The storage room they were staying in was barely big enough to hold their family of seven. The poor kids had to share the small bunk and Mr. and Mrs. Dooley had to make do with a bed too small for them and their baby. It couldn't have been comfortable living quarters, especially with how pregnant Mrs. Dooley was with their sixth child. What was going to happen to them when that new baby was born? Mrs. Dooley looked like she could pop at any minute.

Something needed to be done for them and probably more than was within the shelter's capabilities. I doubted the sisters could get them an affordable house, because that was what they needed. Even to find an apartment for a family that big would be difficult, and with the rent that they would need to pay, they might as well get their own house. The Dooleys were in such a sorry situation. I felt for their children. Whatever McDonald's food Bella gave them must've been a real treat for those kids.

"So, they're the ones you gave the food to?" I asked Bella as she led me away from the main shelter area and into another hallway on the opposite side as I had come in from.

_Yes. Well, some of it. I spread the food out amongst a few other shelter friends as well. _

_It wasn't much and the family all had to share, but they didn't mind._

_Oh how the kids loved it. I was their hero tonight._

_They had such smiles on their faces. Smiles I hadn't seen in a couple of days._

_I owe it all to you. _

_So from them as well as I, thank you again._

"I'm happy to have helped. I'm glad you were able to bring joy to those kids. It looks like they could use it. You know, if you would've just told me, I probably could've bought more. So, you could bring smiles to more of your friends' faces tonight. I'm sure some of the people here were jealous."

_It's all right. The people here understood what I was trying to do._

_As much as I've wanted to, I can't feed them all. They get that._

_I was grateful for the extra food I was able to bring._

_And, even though I know now that you would've paid for everything willingly, I couldn't take advantage of your generosity. I already had taken advantage enough._

"That wouldn't have been a big deal, Bella. I'd gladly help you to help them. It isn't like I couldn't afford it anyway."

Bella halted me before I could say anymore and started scribbling on her notebook again. I waited patiently as she finished writing what she wanted to say.

I already saw the drawbacks of communicating this way. It really wasn't good for conversation flow. I needed to learn how to sign much quicker than the lessons that Bella could offer me and made a mental note to look into signing classes, tutorials, and sign language books-anything that could move me further along.

I'm a realist and I knew that I'd probably become fluent in signing before Bella would get her verbalization skills back. Getting Bella to talk again was going to be a work in progress and would need patience. It wasn't going to happen right away, but I had no doubt it would happen some day. Like with my signing, Bella was going to need the right help, encouragement, and support.

As Bella finished writing her words that she should've spoken, I peeked into the rapidly filling open area. The occupants were starting to choose their cots and settle in for the evening. I saw Sister Mary Francis along with other sisters helping to direct everyone and the process was much more orderly than I would've imagined.

I knew that I couldn't help all these people get back on their feet. I didn't have the means to do that. But, after seeing all of them like this, I felt that I should be doing something to help. Lost in my own thoughts again, Bella had to tap me on my shoulder to let me know that her note was done.

_In that case, maybe I'll take you up on it again some other time._

_If the Dooley's are still around, and hopefully they aren't and their luck changes, but if they are, I'm sure the kids would love another McDonald's meal, something more hearty for each of them and they wouldn't need to share._

_So, tell me again, to what do I owe your surprise visit?_

_Hanging out at a homeless shelter doesn't seem like something you would do._

_I'm sure you didn't just come to get your kudos for the McDonald's._

_Well, unless you did._

_I thought I thanked you profusely already._

_Although, I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me tonight, especially_

_saving me from those men._

_Have you changed your mind about the... you know?_

_I think I know a place around here we can slip away for a little while._

"You have thanked me enough, Bella. Believe me, no more thanks is necessary. I didn't come here to get any kudos. Besides, the only kudos I care about would come from you. I came here because I've had something on my mind since I got to know you, and you left so quickly that I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to you about it. You know, if you really want to repay me for my kindness I know of another way and it isn't that. You really should get your mind out of the gutter. We've been through this already." We both laughed.

Of course, while I pretty much guffawed, Bella's laughter was silent and her body shook with her laughter. Even though no sound came from her lips, she was still a sight to see in that state. It gave me another reason to take her home and make her mine. I got joy from watching her laugh. That was something new and exciting to me.

_All right. What did you want to discuss with me?_

_Is it about the signing lessons?_

"In a way, it is about my signing lessons. I don't think you can efficiently teach me," I paused when I saw Bella start to pout. "No, no...you're getting the wrong idea. I still want you to teach me, but I don't think me just coming to find you here at the shelter will work."

_I see. You need a more structured schedule._

_We can do that._

_I'll need to keep track of time somehow, but I think we can make it work._

"That's not exactly what I'm trying to say either, Bella." A look of confusion fell upon her face. I continued to try and explain, "I don't think the shelter would make the best learning environment."

_Yeah, I can see what you mean._

_It's not very private or quiet most times, and it won't make the best classroom._

_I'm sure a man like you would rather not hang around this place._

_I'm surprised you've even lasted this long here._

_So, what did you have in mind?_

"What I had in mind was my place, Bella."

_Your place. Okay, that's doable._

_But, you'd be willing to pick me up, take me there, and then bring me back?_

_That seems like an awful lot of trouble just for some sign language lessons._

"Actually, Bella, if I take you home with me, I'd want you to stay. You won't ever need to come back to living in this shelter again." Once more, Bella looked confused. I think it was time for a different angle. "Bella, do you know that I have the means to change your life? Change your life for the better. Has it ever crossed your mind to ask me to help you?"

_Help me? You've already helped me out so much tonight._

_Why would I need to ask you for more help?_

_I'm not one to take advantage of a person's generosity._

_Haven't we been over this as well?_

_I still don't understand what you're getting at._

"I mean help you out of your current situation. Help you to not be homeless anymore."

_You could do that? How?_

"You really have no idea who I am and what I'm capable of, do you? When I told you who I was earlier and it didn't phase you one bit, I kind of figured that you didn't have any knowledge about who my family is and what we mean to this town. Bella, I have the means to take you out of all this. Like I said, I can change your life. All you'll need to do is agree. Come home with me now and I promise that you'd never need nor want for anything ever again."

_Oh I get it. I've heard about this sort of thing._

_I agree and then I become a kept woman or some sort of sex slave at your beck and call._

"What? No! Not at all," I exclaimed, horrified. "Believe me, what I'm offering you isn't sordid at all. My family has no illegitimate ties like you might be thinking. In fact, the Cullens are a very upstanding family in the community. What I'm offering is for you to get out of this situation with my help. It's a genuine opportunity that you never had before. You can live with me and I can provide anything you need, even a job so that you can sustain yourself. And, actually, you don't have to live with me, we can go out tomorrow and find you a nice place of your own, but you're free to stay with me as long as you like until you get on your own feet. Although, I really would prefer you just stay with me. Like I also said before, I enjoy your company. However, I won't hold you. You'll be free to do what you want of your own will."

_Edward, I can't afford to live anywhere. Don't you think I've tried?_

_And, getting a job isn't easy for someone like me. It's not only the economic times, but I'm not even a high school graduate. There aren't that many opportunities for me._

_I don't believe I would be able to make it on a minimum wage job._

_Why do you think I am where I am?_

_Like I said, it's not like I haven't tried._

_Every day I'm searching for a way where I don't have to sacrifice_

_myself or my morals._

_A couple of times I thought I could make it a go, but they never worked out._

_I ended up right back here._

_If I can get out of this life, I probably would've done so already._

"You're still not following, Bella. I'm not just offering you a start. I'm offering you an all expenses paid trip to a new life. Not only that, I'm offering you unlimited choices. Something you probably didn't have until you met me. You know you've got a place to live with me if you're so inclined. It can be temporary until I can set you up in your own place; I will take care of the bills until you can manage it on your own, and that's even if you ever want to handle your own finances. You can keep all your money to do with what you will. Just know that your financials wouldn't be a problem anymore. I'll help you get your GED, if that's what you want. I'll even hire you a tutor. You won't need to work, but if that's what you want I can help you with that, too. I can even give you a job right now as my assistant, so there will be no minimum wage job earning for you. You're smart, can read and write, can follow directions and something tells me you learn things quickly. Those are all the qualifications you need to be my assistant. I can buy you all the food, clothes, and whatever else you need or want until you're settled and can manage for yourself. When you become financially sufficient, the sky will be the limit for you. The best part, you won't ever need to pay me back for the investment I put in. That's what I'll be considering you, an investment. I think investing in you would be the best investment I'll ever make yet. It would basically be my honor to help change your life, Bella; get you away from all this. It'll be the best thing I've done so far in my life. All you have to do is say yes, then grab your stuff, and I'll take you home. It's innocent, I assure you. I have a couple of spare rooms that you could choose from. I'll be a total gentleman. Nothing shady about anything I'm offering. It's overwhelming, I understand, but we don't have to plan the rest of your life out tonight or tomorrow. There'll be time for you to decide what you want to do. In the meantime, I can take care of you. I want to take care of you, so let me."

I know I had rambled on and on, but I needed to lay out everything for her. She needed to understand what exactly I was offering.

_If you have the power to do all that, then don't waste your energy on me._

_There are others more needy than I am whom your generosity would be better served._

_Like the Dooley's for example. Didn't your heart go out to them? It isn't right for a family such as theirs to live like this._

_They could use the good fortune you want to shower on me._

_You should help them or someone else, not me._

_I'll be fine._

_And, Edward, if you're doing this because you're afraid to lose our friendship, you have no need for worry. We could still be friends. It'll be a difficult road, but if we both work at it, we can maintain our friendship._

"Bella, I don't consider helping you change your life as a waste of time and energy. I'd gladly expend all the time and energy to have you live a fuller life. A life that you're meant to lead. A life full of potential and great possibilities."

_How do you know that this isn't the life I'm meant to lead?_

"I know it isn't. Bella, isn't it uncomfortable living in this shelter? They have cots for beds and there's not a lot of privacy. I know you've made some friends here, but it must be difficult with all the people coming and going. Don't you know, this shelter is nothing like being in your own home, and to be honest it's worrisome for me for you to be staying here. I worry about your quality of life here. You can't possibly get the kind of rest and relaxation you need here. I worry about the kind of people who are in here with you, who aren't as decent as you. In the short time I've been here, I've seen some things Bella and forgive me for saying so, but some of the occupants are questionable. Above all, I worry for your safety. I'm sure the sisters run this place efficiently and effectively, but I know that they can't control everything. All it would take is the wrong person to come in here and take advantage of you."

_Hey, don't knock this shelter. I know it's not exactly the Brown Palace, but believe me, it's a lot better than some of the other ones scattered around this city._

_The sisters do a great job of taking care of the place, handling the occupants, and making sure everyone is taken care of and safe._

_It's the reason I choose to come here._

_Yeah, it's not the most comfortable living situation, but I assure you that sleeping on one of these cots is better than the hard ground outside with no shelter from the elements._

_I'm sure you know that a lot worse things could happen to me out there rather than in here._

"Granted what you say is the truth, butI still can't bear leaving you in this place. No offense to the sisters that run this shelter. But, you can be staying in a much better place and never have to worry about being out in the cold, Denver night again. You want to repay me so badly for all I'd done for you tonight, then allow me help you. Let me get you out of here. Agree to come home with me now and tomorrow will be a whole new world for you."

_As much as your offer sounds like a dream come true and tempting to take, I already told you that there are people in worse circumstances that could use your help. _

_If you want to throw the money and power you have around, maybe you should invest it in this shelter. _

_The sisters could use help as well. _

_They don't have enough resources. _

_If they did, maybe they'd be able to help more folks like me._

Bella is really such a selfless person. It was something to admire and behold. It was another reason why she was so endearing to me.


	9. Part 9

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**We're almost home. Second to the last part. Enjoy!

BTW, haven't thanked my partner in fic, my amazing beta, Cheermom, in a while. She's the reason this story is all pretty. Love her for it!

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**PLEASE TO BE LEAVING ME YOUR READER THOUGHTS**

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><p><strong>*~Wildflower~*<strong>

**Part 9**

I understood now that Bella would never agree to my offer of changing her life if I didn't also plan to help those that she cared the most about. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to help them as well as I could help her. Taking care of Bella I could manage. I didn't have the means to get the Dooley family back on their feet or throw more money into this shelter. However, I could approach my father and mother. Not only did they have money, but they also knew some more powerful people who could make a difference. It wasn't that hard of a bargain to make.

"Bella, how about I offer you a deal? I've already made up my mind that I am going to help you out of your situation. I can't bear the thought of you staying in this shelter, especially not when you no longer have to because I'm here now to help. I really don't want to go home without you tonight. I swear that if I end up leaving you here, I won't be able to sleep. As your friend now, I can't in good conscience not help you. We've only just met, but I really care about you so much already."

Bella looked on the verge of tears and I hoped it was the happy kind. My hand caressed her face briefly and she leaned into my touch, which made my heart soar. I imagined more tender moments like these between us.

I realized that I was being sappy. That was yet another new trait for me. I'd never been one to be sappy and sentimental before. Attribute it to Bella.

I continued my speech, "Now, about this deal. You're all I really care about, but I know it would mean a lot to you if those you care about get the help they need just like you. If I promise to do my best to help out both the shelter and the Dooley family, will you agree to come home with me then?"

_You would do that?_

I smiled at her. "For you, I'd do anything. Listen, I can't promise a miracle. I'm certainly not all powerful and have boundless supplies of money to give and turn all these unlucky people from rags to riches. But, I can help take care of the shelter. I can donate time and money and I can probably even help to get it some sponsors, so it'll be financially stable and the sisters will have more resources to help people. As for the Dooleys, I can bring them to the attention of my parents, who probably have more resources to help them than I do, and if they don't, they probably know people who can help them, and I assure you that once Carlisle and Esme hear their story, they're going to want to help. That's just the way they are. I'm sure they'd be proud that a little bit of them is finally rubbing off on me. If there's anyone else on your list, I can always try to find a way to help them out as much as I can also. If that's good enough for you then please come home with me now. What do you say?"

_Edward, that's more than I could ever ask for from you._

_But, why would you do all this for me?_

"Well, don't you know?" Bella shook her head "no". "I told you that I've never felt such a strong connection with anyone before and I care about you. That's enough of a reason for me. Even if nothing more happens between us then just being friends," I paused as my heart clenched at the thought. "Uh, even if we're just friends, I still care about you. And caring friends do whatever they can to help each other when they need help. You're a friend in a special circumstance and need more of my help, which like I keep saying, I'm happy to be giving."

_If I allow you to help me, as your friend, I won't be able to reciprocate._

"But, that's where you're wrong. You can help me by teaching me a whole other language and giving me the pleasure of your company."

_That simple, huh?_

"I don't see why it has to be anymore complicated than that," I told Bella honestly.

It occurred to tell me that I hadn't yet told her that I wanted to also help her regain her ability to speak. It might be a deciding factor in whether she'd take or refuse my help.

"Uh, Bella, there's one other thing that I've been meaning to talk to you about," I began. "It's about your affliction. I think I can also help you regain your ability to speak. From what you've told me, physically you should be able to talk, just that you can't. I bet together we can find out why that is and work from there. I know my parents can probably lead us to someone who could be of help and if I know my parents, whomever their connection is would be excellent. That is, if you want to regain your voice back. I won't do anything unless you want me to."

Bella's eyes grew wide and then her face scrunched up as if she was in deep concentration. She began writing quickly on her notepad once more.

_I've always wanted to know why I became mute. _

_I've always said that one day, when I was able to, I'd check into it. _

_I know that I may or may not regain my voice, but I can't help but think I'd regret it if I at least didn't try._

After reading her latest note, I smiled. It made me happy to know that she'd like to find her voice too.

"Well, it's your lucky day then. I think you will talk again with the right amount of help. So, will you come with me?"

_Let me ask you something first._

_What if I refuse your help and don't leave with you tonight?_

_What then? Are we no longer friends?_

"I'd really hate for you to turn me down, but I won't force you into doing anything you don't want to. Of course, we'd still be friends. I'll warn you now though, I won't give up on you. I'm gonna keep fighting to get you out of your situation. That alone may make you take my help. I can be very stubborn when I want to be. Um, do you know what you want to do?"

Before Bella could answer, we were interrupted by Sister Mary Francis. "There you two are," she said. "Edward, Bella...I hate to interrupt, but I must intrude. It's going to be lights out soon. Edward, unless you're planning to stay the night, you've got to get going. I'm sorry to say, but some of the occupants are already asleep and I can't have you disturbing them. Bella, I know what you two must've been discussing. I have to ask if you are still joining us this evening?"

Bella began to sign to Sister Mary Francis. It was a wonder to behold, making me more eager to learn the language.

"Edward, Bella says that you can't stay here. It wouldn't be right for you to and you'd potentially be taking a cot away from someone who really needs it."

"Okay. Fair enough. Those cots would be killer on my back anyways." We all chuckled at my little attempt to lighten things up. "But what about what we've talked about Bella?"

Bella signed some more to Sister Mary Francis and the sister nodded in understanding. "She wants a moment to think over what you two have discussed with my counsel in private. It is a fairly large undertaking you're asking of her, Edward. I imagine that it's overwhelming for Bella."

"I understand. Bella, I'll wait by my car. If you decide you want to leave with me now, then just come out. I can wait a while, so take the time that you need. If I don't see you come out within a sufficient amount of time then I'll know that you decided to stay and need more time to think things through. Just remember, though, I won't stop trying." I smiled and she smiled back.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of my cards from my cardholder and handed it to Bella. "Um, just in case I won't be seeing you tonight...here. My cell number is on there. You can reach me directly at any time, whatever the hour, it'll be all right. Don't hesitate to call me for anything. If you aren't coming and then you change your mind some time tonight, go ahead and call. I'll come and get you. In any case, I'll be seeing you tomorrow. I'll come and find you."

Bella nodded and I moved to be closer to her. I ran the back of my hand down her cheek and savored the touch. I hesitated only a moment before I hugged her. She hugged me back and a smile came to my face. I kissed her forehead before we parted. If she didn't leave with me, this tender moment was going to last me the night until I saw her again.

I exited the shelter and walked slowly to my car. I kept turning back to see if she was following. Of course, she wasn't.

When I got to my car, I couldn't bring myself to wait inside. Instead, I paced in front of it, sure that I would make a hole in the concrete of the parking lot from my pacing.

Lots of thoughts crept into my head. Not all of them were good ones. Doubt began creeping in.

Had I done the right thing by springing my offer to change her life so soon after we just met? Maybe I should've waited. Was I just so eager that I had to overwhelm her like this? It wasn't like she was going anywhere or that another man would come and take her away from me.

That was what I was most afraid of-I didn't want to lose Bella. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity that we could become more to one another.

I knew it was why I had acted so impulsively. It could be the reason I wasn't going to be taking Bella home tonight.

I don't know how much time had already passed. It already felt like an eternity waiting to see if Bella was going to take me up on my offer tonight.

I continued to pace and rake my hands through my hair, causing the strands to stand up in every direction. Occasionally, I'd look to the door of the shelter to see if Bella was coming out, but when I didn't see her, I would bang my head against the car roof in frustration.

I could only hope that Sister Mary Francis was on my side and advised Bella to go with me. She might've been my only chance. I really didn't want her to stay a moment longer than she had to at the shelter.

I didn't know what I was going to do next if Bella decided to stay. However, I did prepare myself for that possibility. It was going to be devastating, but I wasn't going to give up. I would keep trying to convince Bella to come with me. I knew I was her best hope at leaving this homeless life of hers behind.

The longer I waited, the more anxious I got. I really wished that time would hurry up and let me know one way or the other.

As I was debating how much time was sufficient to wait, I heard the shelter doors open. It was pretty late already, the road was deserted, and the night was quiet, so it wasn't hard to miss the sound of heavy doors opening and closing. I was afraid to look, having already convinced myself that Bella wasn't going to come out. It seemed that a lot of time had passed already, although I couldn't be sure.

I closed my eyes, unwilling to see if she was the one that opened the shelter doors. I heard a throat clear and I automatically felt defeated. It obviously wasn't her.

"Edward," I heard the voice of Sister Mary Francis say. "Are you going to let Bella and I just stand out here while you get yourself together? It looks like it's going to start raining again and we don't want to get wet."

I opened my eyes to find Sister Mary Francis smiling and Bella standing off to her side looking somewhat sheepish. Bella was carrying two backpacks, a small shopping bag, and a small box-it was all that she owned in this world.

I immediately grabbed Bella and pulled in her into a crushing hug, causing her to drop her things. I was sorry about that, but I wasn't sorry she was here with me. I spun her around and around; I was so ecstatic.

"For goodness sakes lad, put Bella down," Sister Mary Francis admonished. "I understand you're excited. But, there's no need for you to be acting crazy. Bella might just change her mind on account of you being certifiable. She already thought you were a bit crazy to offer her what you did in order to move her away from her situation. I had to assure her that you weren't crazy and just had a good heart and that you were a Godsend."

I set Bella back on her feet. She looked stunned.

"Wait here," I whispered to Bella. "There's someone I gotta thank."

I stalked over to Sister Mary Francis and she looked at me warily. I guess she was afraid I was going to pick her up and spin her around just like I had done with Bella. I wasn't going to. First of all, I wouldn't treat a nun that way. Secondly, while Bella was light as a feather, Sister Mary Francis was a bit on the heavier side; my back would surely have been thrown out if I even attempted to lift the good sister.

I gave Sister Mary Francis her own hug and whispered to her my thanks. "I promise to take good care of Bella," I assured the sister as we let go.

Sister Mary Francis told me softly, "I know. I had no doubt after your passionate speech you gave me. You're exactly who we'd all been praying for, Edward. I know you were worried; however, you had nothing to worry about. She feels the connection between you two as well, and a girl that feels that strong of a connection will have trouble saying no to any man. I should know, I felt that connection with God and his son, Jesus Christ, and is why I couldn't ignore my calling to the convent. Just between the two of us, she didn't really need my counsel. I think she already made up her mind once she saw you walk away. But, we did talk and then she made you stew a little." I looked miffed.

"We couldn't have her looking too eager now," Sister told me playfully. "Now, I'm expecting to see a big fat check made out to the shelter in your name soon young man." I nodded. I was going to make good on that promise.

Bella said good-bye once more to Sister Mary Francis. It wasn't really a farewell, they knew they'd both see one another again. Just because Bella's life was changing, it didn't mean she couldn't come back to the place she had once called her home. If I knew Bella, she would probably be back volunteering at this shelter in no time.

Sister Mary Francis hurried inside as a clap of thunder echoed through the sky. Bella looked a little sad, but affirmed to me that she was all right. I could understand why, though. It was the end of an era for Bella.

I opened the car door for Bella and she settled inside. The rain started to fall again as soon as I got inside. I drove out carefully to my townhouse in the Inverness neighborhood.

Bella was asleep by the time we arrived home. Not wanting to disturb her, I carried her inside and tucked her into bed in the spare room closest to my bedroom. I made sure she was fast asleep, watching over her for a few minutes, before I left what was now going to be her room.

I took her meager belongings inside and quietly placed them in her room where she would easily spot them. I couldn't help myself and rifled through them a bit. I didn't dig too deep. I was invading her privacy enough. I saw that she had some clothes, a few other personal items, and the one thing that stood out amongst her possessions was this really pretty music box, which I was glad hadn't broken when I caused her to drop her stuff.

Looking at all she brought with her, Bella really didn't have much. I didn't even see a jacket that would shield her from the winter cold. The music box was probably the only item left that she had that connected her to childhood. It just went to show how simply she lived. It also went to show that by taking her home with me now, how much her life was going to change.


	10. Part 10Finale

**Disclaimer:**All Twilight characters herein are the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N:**Finally, we've come to the conclusion of this extended O/S. 10 parts and approximately 2 weeks later. I'd say this has been the fastest I'd ever posted and completed a story—yes, I sort of cheated.

Well, I hope you enjoy this little snippet of their lives together after she goes home with him and he changes her life. Remember, this is technically complete now, but it's still far from over.

I'll be adding the side-shots, outtakes and futuretakes, at my own leisure. I'm sorry I can't really give you a definitive time line or posting schedule . I have some written, but there's others on my list left to write and you readers may even suggest a few as well. I'll try not to make you loyal readers wait forever, though.

Reminder: Be sure to put this story on alert if you'd like to receive notifications for the additions.

Lastly, a great many, many, many thanks, hugs, and kisses really goes out to my wonderful friend, beta, fic partner, and Zumba goddess, Cheermom. She edited this like a champ and I think together we produced a wonderful story.

**IF YOU LOVED IT (OR EVEN HATED IT)**

**TELL ME IN A REVIEW**

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><p><strong>~*Wildflower*~<strong>

**Part 10**

**Finale**

I took the first week off after bringing Bella home with me to help get her settled into her new life. My father was happy to grant me the time off when he found out the reason for my unexpected vacation. I couldn't hide this from them. I was right in the fact that they were so proud of what I had done. I think it was really the first time in a long time that they had something to be proud of me about. They couldn't wait to meet Bella, as well as get started on their own project of helping the Dooley's get back on their feet and making sure the shelter was well taken care of.

When Bella awoke that first morning, from what she claimed was the best sleep she'd ever had, she was awestruck by my place. I told her it was actually humble compared to my parent's home and to other places around the ritzier parts of town. It didn't matter to her. She felt that she was living in a palace. It took me a good week to get her to relax around the house and not be afraid to make a mess once in a while. I even had to get her out of the habit of meticulously cleaning the place up. I had a cleaning lady come once a week for that. I had to keep reminding her that she wasn't the help, but my roommate. She could be lazy and messy if she wanted to. Bella just felt obligated to help out in that department, so I let her. I benefitted from it after all. Her cleaning habits did necessitate me to cut back the cleaning lady to only once a month, unfortunately.

It didn't take Bella long to decide that she wanted to stay with me after we did a week of apartment hunting. I tried to get her interested in a house or townhouse, but she simply didn't want to manage the space or have that kind of overwhelming responsibility. Apartments, no matter how nice, cozy, or quaint they were didn't interest her either. She couldn't reconcile in her head the amount of space she would have living there, even in the apartments with the smallest square footage. More importantly, she didn't want to be alone. I don't think she'd ever admit it, but I think she was actually frightened of being alone.

I would never tell her this, but I had secretly been praying that Bella would decide never to move out of my place. I truly enjoyed having her there. It was selfish of me, but after living with her for only a couple of weeks and settling into a comfortable routine together, I couldn't imagine her not being around the house anymore.

I'd never lived with a woman before, but I saw the benefits of having a woman to come home to. It felt nice. Plus, it was a bonus that she cooked and her cooking was awesome; literally, some of the best food I had ever tasted. It was another surprising skill that Bella had considering that she'd never had a kitchen to cook in until she lived with me.

Seeing Bella on our first shopping spree was a sight to behold. There was so much wonderment in her. I was amazed that she had never even stepped food inside a mall before; she'd never felt the need to since she thought that she could never afford to shop at any of the stores anyways, plus she felt that she would never belong inside considering her dingy and haggard appearance. She was so cute as she shopped. I got great joy just from observing her. Admittedly, we went a little crazy and the car was filled with shopping bags, all for her, but I didn't mind one bit. It had been the best time I'd ever had shopping.

Even though she could now afford to shop anywhere she wanted with my help, once she discovered Walmart and Target, they became her preferred place to shop. I couldn't blame the girl for becoming frugal. She had come from nothing after all.

Bella was truly a saint. I hadn't known this before, but she'd started setting aside some of the shopping money I would give her and save it up so that she could shop at Walmart and Target and buy things for some of her friends who were still struggling and being housed at the shelter. They started calling her the angel of the shelter, because to those folks, she was like an angel brought upon them to give them some comfort and joy.

Bella was teaching me to sign and I was getting the hang of it. We had actually come to a point where I could sign some simple sentences with her and she could do away with her note writing to communicate back on occasion. She was very proud of my progress, although a lot of it I could credit to the additional learning I was doing.

Although Bella wanted to work to earn her keep, she refused my offer of a job for her. She wanted to try to find a job on her own, but the opportunities were just not there for her. I told her that it was all right; she definitely earned more than her keep to me, even though she just stayed at home. She took care of our place, cooked, cleaned, taught me how to sign, and more importantly took care of me and the cat and dog we adopted. I always reminded her that the job I had for her still stood, if she ever decided to take it. However, her life was already pretty full with the work she did at home and then the volunteer work she also did at the shelter.

One day out of the blue, Bella had asked me if I regretted taking her in since she didn't contribute financially. I told her honestly that what she contributed was worth more than money. Just giving me the pleasure of her company each day was already worth the price of gold to me.

When Bella came into my life, I had honestly forgotten all about my ex-girlfriend, Chelsea. I had already considered her my ex after the blowout over the restaurant, the night I met Bella, although we never really formally declared it. We had actually just stopped talking to one another, so I guess we both figured we were over. Besides, I had heard rumors that she was now fooling around with her Brit friend, Ashton, Afton, or something or other. I really could've cared less who was the poor sap who was saddled with her. As you can see, I wasn't torn up about the break-up at all. It was more like good riddance for me.

That was until Chelsea tried to surprise me one day by breaking into mine and Bella's place. I honestly didn't know how she managed to get a key, since I didn't recall giving one to her. Of course, she had no idea that Bella was living with me. Imagine her surprise when she entered and found Bella in my living room, wearing nothing but my shirt and her panties, vacuuming. I walked in soon after Chelsea arrived and I caught the two girls in a staring contest. At first, I was dumfounded, but quickly recovered my senses and promptly showed Chelsea the door. She had gotten the wrong idea about Bella and I, but I wasn't going to correct her. Chelsea was finally history after that day. I did do a lot of making up to Bella after Chelsea's stupid stunt.

Although I was completely attracted to Bella from the get go, I never made a move to make our relationship more than being roommates and friends. I didn't want to be an asshole. Bella had expressed her concerns of feeling like a mistress, a kept woman, and me only wanting sex out of her because of my selfless offer to her. I constantly worked to get those thoughts and feelings out of her mind. Although, I wasn't really okay with remaining plutonic, I figured that a romantic relationship would just happen naturally between us, if we were truly meant to be more than just friends.

My biggest problem was that Bella and I had such a flirtatious relationship. We were very handsy with one another, enjoying each other's touch constantly. We shared a lot of tender moments where we embraced, held hands, and even shared kisses on the forehead and cheeks; however, there wasn't anything more sexual than that. You can imagine that as a man, I was sexually frustrated.

For months I went to bed with blue balls, wanting nothing more then to enter Bella's room, tell her that I loved her, and ravish her like there was no tomorrow. It was tough to reign in my urges, but I was proud of the control I exhibited.

Yeah, I loved her. I think I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her, because the effect she had on me was instantaneous. I kept my true feelings to myself, until our romantic relationship actually began.

Once Bella had become a part of my life, I had stopped dating completely. No other woman, no matter how beautiful, held an interest for me. No other woman could ever hold a candle to my Bella. From the time I ran into her in that alley, I only ever wanted her.

Likewise, Bella never dated, much to my elation. I didn't want her with anyone else. However, it wasn't as though other men weren't interested. Of course, other men would be interested. Bella was naturally gorgeous and an amazing woman after all.

The thought of some other man having Bella was like someone stabbing me in my gut. It physically hurt.

Yes, I was a jealous bastard. Seeing another man eye Bella or I finding out that another man was interested in her made me murderous. However, there was nothing I could really do but wallow in my jealousy.

I knew that I had no hold on Bella. She was free to date if she wanted. Lucky for me, she didn't seem interested in any other man but me. We still remained strictly friends for quite a while, though, after she moved in.

It all changed us for the day we went to the Dooley's housewarming party. That was when we shared our first true kiss.

My parents made good on their promise to help the Dooley's and within a couple of weeks of my parent's intervention, they were out of the shelter and living in a temporary apartment, just until their new house could get finished. My parents had gotten them in contact with Habitat for Humanity of Denver and that charitable organization awarded the Dooley's a house. Of course, Mr. Dooley had to help build it, but that wasn't a problem for him. He and Mrs. Dooley happily worked on the house until it was ready for their family to live in. There was enough room for them to house their six kids and the kids were able to attend a better school. My father provided Mr. Dooley with a job and my mother provided Mrs. Dooley with an all expenses paid nanny for the children so that she could work part-time to better help out their finances. Before too long, they were back on their feet, and even were able to purchase a used mini-van for the family to use.

Things were looking up for the Dooley family. They weren't down on their luck anymore.

Bella had been so happy for them that when we got home, she just laid the kiss on me, taking me completely by surprise. She'd told me later that her reasons for doing so were two-fold: one, she considered me instrumental in getting the family back on their feet, and two, she had waited a long time for the right time to do it.

Once I recovered from the shock, I wasted no time in opening my mouth to her and deepening the kiss. She didn't resist me and melted into my arms. It was a magical kiss. I had never kissed any woman like that before and would never kiss another woman like that again. It was so spectacular that I think I actually felt my own knees grow weak.

We couldn't keep our hands off one another after that. The night of our first kiss also became the first night we made love.

My body celebrated our union. My cock actually congratulated me because he finally got what he wanted-to be inside Bella. It had been a long-time coming. The days of whacking off to fantasies of Bella were now gone, because we were living the fantasies now.

Bella and I had the most amazing sex that night. I think it was made more powerful by our strong connection.

I must say, for a virgin, Bella was extremely talented in bed. As I had come to know, Bella was naturally talented with a lot of things.

We'd made love several more times throughout the night. I didn't think I would ever tire of fucking Bella. Sex with her was the most amazing sex I'd ever had.

It wasn't long afterwards when she permanently moved into my bedroom. It was useless for us to fight our sexual appetites for one another.

Who would've known that Bella was such a minx? We proceeded to christen every room and surface at our place, and I really mean every room and surface. Much to my libido's delight, Bella is up for practically anything sexually and we are having the most fun. After the period of drought, once Bella and I connected like we never did before, I'd never been so satisfied and sated in all my life.

It seemed that having Bella in my life and having the most amazing sex ever had a tremendous effect on me. People at the office actually commented that I was a better person to be around. I was honest and told them that the credit was owed all to Bella.

Everyone loved Bella. It wasn't any wonder, because like I keep saying, she's an amazing person. She always just exuded a light that glowed from within her and it touched everyone she met.

My family especially loved her. I think they actually adored her more than they did me. My parents were overjoyed that I had found someone as special as Bella to call my very own.

They didn't have to tell me how special Bella was. I already knew. I was never going to take that for granted.

Throughout our time together, Bella worked on recovering her speech. She worked with the best psychotherapist and speech therapist in the state. Although, it was painful to relive the events that led up to her losing her ability to speak, it was necessary for Bella's recovery.

Bella, up until therapy, hadn't really remembered much of her childhood-not the years before she lost her ability to speak, the events which led to her becoming mute, nor her time at the orphanage. To Bella, her life only ever started when she boarded a Greyhound bus from Seattle bound for Denver.

Bella had made a breakthrough in therapy and I was there to support her each step of the way. After the breakthrough, she started making progress on regaining her ability to talk.

Like muscles that atrophy after a long period of non-use, Bella's vocal chords needed rehabilitation also. Bella worked extra hard with the speech therapist and was frustrated with what she deemed as slow progress on her part to start talking. Actually, according to the speech therapist, Bella was doing quite well. Bella needn't be pushing herself. It was going to come to her when her voice box was ready.

I was already so proud of Bella when she was able to start vocalizing some sounds. She wasn't talking yet, but just being able to hear some of her voice was already great progress for me.

Apparently, Bella was ready to talk one night while we were in the midst of passion. All of a sudden, her voice bursted forth and screamed out my name in pleasure. At first, we were both stunned and didn't know what to make of it. When we recovered, we learned quickly that Bella's voice was no longer going to be contained.

I have to admit that I inwardly gave myself a high-five for eliciting her voice to finally come through. I knew there was some extreme power in the sex Bella and I were having.

Bella began talking regularly and normally after that. In fact, at times I couldn't get her to shut up and wished that she was mute again.

Yes, those were the times when we fought. No coupling is perfect; even two people who loved one another as much as Bella and I did still had our disagreements. Surprisingly, we hardly fought and when we did, we never stayed mad at one another for too long. We had already made a pact to never go to bed angry, so we stuck to that and always worked things out.

One good thing about fighting-the make-up sex was incredible. Sometimes I wanted to start a fight just so Bella and I could get to the making up part. Yes, there was still a bit of selfishness in me.

When Bella told me "I love you" for the first time, I thought I could just cry for the first time in my adult life. It was music to my ears.

Shortly after Bella regained her ability to talk, I asked her to marry me and fortunately for my sorry ass, she said yes. How I ever got so lucky as to call someone as wonderful as Bella mine, I would never know. I thank my lucky stars each and every day.

Hearing Bella recite her vows to me was truly one of the happiest moments in my life. It was yet another moment I thought I would cry because my heart was so full of love for Bella.

Bella had told me later that there were two very strong deciding factors the night we met that made her more inclined to come home with me that evening. One was that one of the Dooley's daughters, whom I came to know as Maddie, told her that I was very handsome, like a prince come to rescue the fair Bella, so Bella should go ahead and marry me.

I remembered that night clearly. So that was what they were whispering and giggling about.

Well, thank God for little girls like Maddie. It's amazing how insightful those young ones could be.

The second deciding factor was the over-crowding in the shelter that night. It seemed that the constant rain had caused an influx of folks seeking shelter from the weather and there wasn't going to be enough room for everyone. Bella was giving up one cot, but to her that still made a difference, and it especially made a difference to that one homeless person that got what would've been Bella's cot. I had never been more grateful to rainy Denver weather and to shelter over-crowding.

Bella and I finally moved out of our townhouse shortly after we were finally able to take our honeymoon. Work obligations required me to postpone our honeymoon for a couple of months after our wedding.

We bought a charming little house towards the west side of the suburbs of Denver. It was a beautiful area that was shadowed by the mountains and was surrounded by beautiful parks and open space and we weren't too far from several lakes. Bella loved being near water because it reminded her of her home in Washington.

We had to move because we needed more room for our soon expanding family. We had found out during our honeymoon that Bella was pregnant with our first child. You could not have found a happier man when we found out that news.

To my own amazement, I had done it. I had plucked my wildflower, Bella, from out of the concrete jungle. I nourished her and helped her to flourish and thrive. We are so happy, content, and there is so much love between us. I could never have been more grateful for fate bringing the two of us together. Call it instinct, but I just knew that Bella and I would live a long and happy life together.

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><p><strong>End AN:** Just wanted to take the time out to say a few much needed thank yous.

First of all, thank you to all you loyal readers that have found my story and took to reading it. Thanks for giving it a chance. I appreciate the support. Without you readers, then I'm really just writing for myself.

Thanks to all those that reviews/reviewed my story, especially. Reviews are the stuff that makes a writer's day.

And I can't forget to say thanks to all those that Favorite'd this story. I'm so glad you've enjoyed my work. I'm humbled by the generous gesture.

See you guys at the side-shots!


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